England and Wales Cricket Board chair Richard Thompson has said the country’s cricketers have learned from the preparation errors that contributed to their 4-1 Ashes defeat last winter, pointing to the scheduling of a 50-over warm-up match before this year’s white-ball tour of Australia as evidence of that correction.
Brendon McCullum’s white-ball side will face a Western Australia XI at the WACA in Perth on November 7, six days before their one-day international series against Australia begins. The fixture marks England‘s first white-ball warm-up match in six years, a gap that had drawn attention given the relative inexperience in their recent squads.
Thompson made his remarks at an event at Lord’s held to launch a new initiative aimed at boosting cricket participation in state schools. He acknowledged that errors had been made in the planning of last winter’s Test tour.
“There is a lot that was learned. You have to remember these decisions are taken so far ahead. The reality is in those decisions, mistakes were made and we’ve corrected that now,” Thompson said, speaking to BBC Sport.
What went wrong with England’s Ashes preparation?
England’s Test side were heavily criticised for entering last winter’s Ashes series with only one in-house warm-up match behind them. That fixture was played against the England Lions at Lilac Hill, a club ground whose conditions were vastly different from those at Optus Stadium, the venue for the first Test. England lost that opening Test inside two days and went on to concede the series at the earliest opportunity.
The ECB said at the time that the WACA had been unavailable for a warm-up fixture. McCullum, who has since been sacked as Test coach but remains in charge of England’s white-ball sides, admitted during the Ashes that mistakes may have been made with preparation.
Since the series, the ECB and Cricket Australia have agreed a reciprocal arrangement to ensure touring teams receive better preparation before future Ashes series. Thompson was clear that the new arrangement carries formal weight rather than depending on personal relationships between administrators.
“These things are codified and in an agreement, so we’re not relying on goodwill. It can’t be a situation where a board chair or CEO move on and the goodwill falls away. It’s important the Ashes has the best prep for both teams, the best wickets and the best facilities. That’s something you will see going forward for both teams,” Thompson said.
What does England’s upcoming schedule look like?
The November 7 warm-up at the WACA feeds directly into a busy white-ball programme. England play three ODIs and five T20 internationals in Australia from November 13 to December 2. Before that, they are also scheduled to take part in a 50-over tri-series in Pakistan against the hosts and Sri Lanka later this month.
The addition of warm-up fixtures to England’s 50-over schedule is partly a product of the ECB-Cricket Australia agreement but also reflects McCullum’s stated desire to give players more preparation time ahead of next year’s 50-over World Cup. After England’s victory over Sri Lanka, McCullum noted the squad’s limited experience.
“Aside from Jos, Joe and Adil Rashid, there’s not a lot of experience in that side. We’re going to try and put on a smattering of warm-up games to try and get guys up to speed as quickly as we can,” McCullum said after the Sri Lanka series.
England have won three consecutive 50-over series, though that run has come during a period of limited experience across the squad. In their most recent XI, Joe Root was the only player with more than 50 caps in the format. The side has a minimum of 20 official fixtures before the World Cup next autumn.
England are also scheduled to play warm-up matches before Test tours of South Africa and Bangladesh this winter, as well as before the one-off 150th anniversary Test against Australia in Melbourne in March, fixtures that were arranged before McCullum was replaced by Stephen Fleming as Test coach this summer.
