Ian Botham has criticised England's practice schedule for the upcoming Ashes series, stating that having no matches against Australian state teams before the first Test "borders on arrogance".
Ian Botham criticises England's practice schedule in lead up to Ashes
Speaking on the Old Boys, New Balls podcast, Botham labelled England's preparation schedule “a worry”. “We’re going to wander in and have a little game with the ‘A’ team," said Botham.“Not one (state match), which borders on arrogance. You’ve got to give yourself the chance. They are saying we play too much cricket. I don’t think you play enough”.
England will arrive in Australia in early November, and will play one warm-up match against an England Lions side before the first Test gets underway in Perth on November 21. The Lions are touring Australia parallel to the first part of the Ashes, and have named a squad for the tour which includes Rehan Ahmed, Jordan Cox and Sonny Baker.
Forgoing warm-up matches against state sides is not new for touring England Ashes squads. In 2020/21, the senior side played two warm-up games against the Lions before the start of the series. However, previous tours have featured more extensive warm-up schedules. In 2017, England played three warm-up fixtures, one against Western Australia and two against a Cricket Australia XI, ahead of the first Test. In 2010/11, England famously played four tour matches alongside the Test series, three before the first Test against Western Australia, South Australia and Australia A, as well as a match against Victoria in between the second and third Tests.
“Bowlers don’t get fit in gyms, that’s been proven,” said Botham. “Look at the record with injuries - (Mark) Wood, (Jofra) Archer, Ben Stokes, Brydon Carse - they don’t play enough. You get fit by playing. If it goes horribly wrong, Mark Wood breaks down in the first game, or Jofra Archer does, or Ben can’t bowl, we are suddenly chasing the eight-ball before we’ve started.”
The Ashes countdown is underway, and so are the mind games 😬#Ashes2025 #Cricket pic.twitter.com/xX4LEdimNm
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) October 12, 2025
Graham Gooch: When your career record is on the line in a first-class match it means something
Botham's sentiment was echoed by Graham Gooch in an interview with The Telegraph last week. Gooch was England's batting coach during the 2010/11 Ashes series and played four Ashes series in Australia as a player. “We have a great chance this time, especially if we do well in the first Test, but you need to immerse yourself in Australia-style cricket first by playing that type of hard-nosed game against sides that want to turn you over,” said Gooch.
“Playing against ourselves… there is a chance they will want to give all the bowlers a bowl so you will get people coming on and off the field. For a pro it is just not a serious game. When your career record is on the line in a first-class match it means something. When you change that to glorified practice… I just don’t understand it.”
“I dunno, maybe I’m just a bit of a dinosaur.”
England's preparation for this series has been complicated by a white-ball series against New Zealand which will finish less than three weeks before the start of the first Test. Several of England's all-format players, including white-ball captain Harry Brook, as well as Jofra Archer, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith, will be involved in that series.
“I don’t get why you have that New Zealand series there,” said Gooch. “You want to prepare for the Ashes. It is the holy grail to win down there. We’ve only won four times in 55 years, so why would you not put preparation a priority? The only mitigation I’m told is Australia’s state sides will put a second team out against you. It is just leaving it to chance.”
Australia have yet to name their squad for the first Ashes Test, but suffered a blow last week when Pat Cummins confirmed he is “less than likely” to play in Perth. The Australia captain is recovering from a back injury, and has reportedly not bowled a ball since Australia's Test series in the Caribbean in July.
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