England captain Ben Stokes has hit back at criticism over his team’s limited preparation for the upcoming Ashes series against Australia, saying the squad has done “everything possible” to be ready for the challenge of winning a Test Down Under for the first time in 14 years.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!With the first Test beginning November 21 in Perth, England’s only preparation is a three-day match against their second-string side, the England Lions, starting Thursday at Lilac Hill. The decision to skip traditional tour matches against state sides has sparked debate among cricket legends including Ian Botham, Ian Healy, and Geoffrey Boycott, who believe Stokes’s men risk being undercooked for the marquee series.Stokes, however, dismissed those concerns. “There’s obviously state cricket going on at the moment,” he said on Wednesday. “Time has got to be taken into consideration as well. Some of our squad members were playing the white-ball series in New Zealand. We’ve put a lot of time and effort into how we prepare for every series, and that hasn’t changed with this one.”
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He acknowledged the “jam-packed schedule” of modern cricket, saying it was much harder to find time for multiple warm-up games compared to “10, 15, 20, 30 years ago.”“Come the 21st of this month, we know that we would have done everything possible that we could have done,” the all-rounder asserted.England batting coach Marcus Trescothick backed his captain, saying modern cricket no longer allows the luxury of extended preparations. “With the volume of cricket that’s played, you don’t have time for two or three first-class games like in the past,” he said.Meanwhile, former England great Ian Botham remained unconvinced, warning that the side could struggle to adapt to Australian conditions. “Well, it’s not the way I would prepare,” Botham said in Melbourne on Tuesday.Stokes, who has never won a Test in Australia, insisted the team won’t be intimidated. “Coming to Australia for the Ashes is a lot different than anything else when you’re playing. There’s a lot more that goes on away from the cricket itself.”The five-Test series will move from Perth to Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney. England last won an away Ashes series in 2010–11.
