England say they have “no doubts” about their preparation for the Ashes despite arriving in Australia with only one competitive warm-up scheduled before the first Test in Perth on 21 November. After finishing their one-day series in New Zealand, the squad will spend three weeks tuning up before a three-day match against an England Lions side at Lilac Hill, starting on 13 November.
Ed Barney, the ECB performance director who oversees the Lions programme, insisted the short build-up would be valuable. “There is nothing more the lads will want than to raise their game, put batters under pressure, put bowlers under pressure,” he said. “I have no shadow of a doubt that three-day fixture will be a quality exposure that will continue to aid England in their preparation.”
The approach has attracted criticism. Lord Botham this month described England’s lack of warm-ups against Australian state sides as “bordering on arrogance”. The batting struggles in the ongoing ODI series in New Zealand have added fuel to that debate. England have tried to use the white-ball tour as part of their prep — easing Test players back into competition, managing fast-bowling workloads and giving batters time at the crease. Fast bowlers Gus Atkinson, Mark Wood and Josh Tongue have worked with backroom staff alongside the squads.
There have been encouraging signs: Harry Brook hit a century in the first ODI and Jofra Archer returned in the second match with 3-23. But established Test batters Joe Root, Ben Duckett and Jamie Smith have managed only 43 runs between them in four outings, raising questions about readiness.
Barney pointed to the modern congested calendar as a reason for the limited on-tour match schedule. He urged consideration of the Future Tours Programme and players’ commitments in franchise tournaments such as the Indian Premier League and The Hundred, which leave little extended rest between seasons. “There is a volume of cricket that takes place that means there is a constant balancing of red-ball, white-ball, franchise and domestic cricket commitments,” he said. “We are confident in the set-up, the approach, the time the team have got together, the ability we have had to provide a set of different preparations that are optimal for different players.”
Historically, touring preparations were very different. In 1986-87 England began with three warm-up matches against Australian state sides and enjoyed 84 days from the first tour match to the end of the Test series; this time the gap is 56 days. In 2010-11 Sir Andrew Strauss’s side played three first-class matches before the first Test and won the series 3-1. Other recent tours have produced mixed results: the 2013-14 side played a similar schedule but were thrashed 5-0, while Covid-affected tours have seen only intra-squad matches and limited overs of cricket.
There is no perfect blueprint: some recent visiting sides have played few warm-ups yet won early Tests, while others who played more preparatory matches have struggled.
Questions have also been asked about the make-up and purpose of the Lions squad. The touring party is young — only Rehan Ahmed, Matthew Fisher, Tom Hartley and Josh Hull have Test caps among those selected — and it is unclear whether the warm-up will mix squads to give Test batters exposure to senior bowlers. That raises the prospect of England having to choose between a largely inexperienced opposition or flying replacements in the event of injury or loss of form.
Barney dismissed the notion that the Lions are simply a “second England XI”. “The Lions is not a second team,” he said. “We are going after supporting the highest potential and the next best. We are always blending a balance of the highest potential, people we are excited about, whether with a foresight they might play for England in two to four years or we have some that might be next best in line — that is where we have the fluidity and optionality of who we select.”
As the first Test approaches, England believe their tailored preparations will be sufficient. But with a brief on-tour build-up and an Ashes series that demands peak performance from the outset, questions about whether one intra-squad three-day match will be enough are likely to remain until play begins in Perth.
