Trescothick defends England's limited Ashes preparations

England assistant coach says lack of warm-up matches is 'the way of the modern game'

ESPNcricinfo staff

11-Nov-2025 • 4 hrs ago

England have defended their limited Ashes preparation ahead of the start of their warm-up game against the Lions at Lilac Hill in Perth on Thursday. The three-day match-up is England's only match practice ahead of next Friday's first Test at Optus Stadium, which assistant coach Marcus Trescothick described as "the way of the modern game".

Ashes tours have historically started with a series of warm-up fixtures between travelling squads and either domestic or invitational teams, but they have been greatly reduced in recent series as boards look to streamline schedules.

England have largely eschewed warm-up fixtures since Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes took over as head coach and captain, preferring training camps and intra-squad matches, but have generally started series strongly. They have won all the first Test in each of their last five overseas tours, including in India, Pakistan and New Zealand last year.

"It's the way that the series are generally done - for us and for other opposition teams - around the world nowadays," Trescothick told reporters in Perth on Tuesday. "With the volume of cricket that's played [elsewhere], you don't have the time for preparations like potentially playing two or three first-class games, which has happened in the past.

"I think you generally roll with a prep game, or some facilities - whatever you have available - and you go from there. Of course, most of the guys have been playing in New Zealand for us. Some of the guys have come out from England, but it's the way of the modern game nowadays."

Michael Vaughan, who opened the batting with Trescothick on England's 2002-03 tour to Australia, has questioned the value in playing on a club ground which will "bounce really low" ahead of the first Test on an Optus Stadium which is expected to be fast with steep bounce.

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But Trescothick said England were "very happy" with their preparation: "We've had facilities here with the nets, and obviously then the nets out in the middle, and then we've got the preparation game here as well.

"In my day, playing at the Waca was very unique and very different, but you prepare yourself for those sorts of changes in facilities and pitches as you go along. We'll have three days of prep at Optus, just to get used to pitches and we go along with that, and we'll go from there. We're very happy at the moment."

Ben Duckett, who will open the batting in next week's first Test, arrived in Perth last week and said that facing England's fast bowlers in the nets has provided "pretty good" preparation following a white-ball tour to New Zealand.

"I don't know what the right answer is," Duckett told the Willow Talk podcast. "We play a lot of cricket at the minute, and we've obviously just come off the back of our summer. We're certainly not lacking any gametime.

"I don't make those plans, but I'm pretty happy getting ready in the nets. If we're facing Jofra [Archer], Woody [Mark Wood] and those guys everyday, I think that will be pretty good prep."

England's preparation has been heavily criticised by former players, with Ian Botham suggesting their slimline schedule "borders on arrogance". It stands in clear contrast to Australia's build-up, with 14 members of their 15-man squad for the first Test involved in the ongoing round of Sheffield Shield fixtures.

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