England head coach Brendon McCullum has admitted that his side's preparation for the Ashes "didn't work", after they lost the third Test in Adelaide and conceded the urn to Australia in just 11 days.
England fell to an 82-run defeat on day five in Adelaide to go 3-0 down in the series. Speaking to TNT following the result, McCullum said that he was "disappointed" and that Australia "outplayed us [England] with the bat, they've outplayed us with the ball and they've outplayed us in the field."
Speaking on his side's preparation for the series, McCullum said: "I know that that'll be something that's questioned. When you've lost 3-0, you've got to put your hand up and say, 'maybe I didn't get that preparation right'."
England haven’t won a Test in Australia since their Sydney win in the 2010/11 Ashes.#AShes2025 #AUSvENG pic.twitter.com/MTacRCG3h6
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) December 21, 2025
McCullum admits not getting Ashes preparation right
England played one pre-series warm-up match ahead of the first Test in Perth, an intra-squad match against a side drawn from the Lions squad also touring Australia. After the Perth Test ended in just two days, England chose only to send three members of their squad to take part in a Lions match in Canberra before the Brisbane Test. The side also came under criticism when they spent the break in between the second and third Tests at a tourist spot in Noosa, before heading to Brisbane.
"Ultimately you are responsible for how you get your side ready and how you prepare them," said McCullum. "I had conviction, we had conviction in our methods in terms of preparation, not just leading into the first Test but also in between Tests. I look back now and think, did we need more leading into the first and did we need less leading into the second? They are the changes over time you look back on and say would I do it differently?
"Retrospectively, we lost 3-0 so you would probably say there was room for change there. Again, you put your hand up as a coach and say you might not have got that right. At the same time I felt it would give us our best chance because it has previously. Sitting here 3-0, it didn't work."
England reportedly had the offer from Cricket Australia to play a state match before the series, but in Melbourne or Adelaide where the conditions would be different to what they would face in Perth. The ECB are reportedly seeking better quality warm-up games ahead of the 2029/30 Ashes series in Australia, and are prepared to give Australia their pick of facilities in England ahead of the 2027 series in exchange.
Just two weeks ago after England's defeat in the second Test in Brisbane, McCullum questioned whether he had "over-prepared" his side for the day-night game. "We had five to 10 training sessions leading into this game," he said. "Sometimes there is a tendency to overdo things to make up for it. If anything, we trained too much."
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
