Sir Alastair Cook laments England's ‘mad’ lack of preparation for NRMA Insurance men's Ashes, says angry Ben Stokes has ‘had enough’
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2024/09/16/image-4414b260-c386-47c6-af98-0a2675a5a091-68-310-310.jpeg)
Published 08/12/2025 at 21:40 GMT
Sir Alastair Cook believes England's lack of preparation before the NRMA Insurance men's Ashes amounted to "almost madness" in the wake of an eight-wicket defeat at the Gabba. With the tourists on the brink of failing in their quest to regain the Ashes, both Cook and James Anderson highlighted the absence of serious match practice prior to the series as a key factor in the losses.
Cook: 'Undercooked' England 'cost themselves' opening two Tests through lack of match preparation
Video credit: TNT Sports
TNT Sports expert Alastair Cook felt it was "madness" for England to neglect serious preparation before their first two NRMA Insurance men's Ashes Tests in Perth and Brisbane.
The former England skipper was reacting to Brendon McCullum's comments after the tourists' heavy defeat at the Gabba, with the head coach asserting that his side were "over-prepared".
On TNT Sports' The Edge, Cook and James Anderson broke down where it all went wrong for McCullum and his team, starting with the dearth of match practice afforded to England's bowling attack.
Asked how much preparation he required before he could perform at his best, Anderson replied that simply training in the nets was not sufficient.
"For me, I always felt like I needed games to build up that intensity and also that match fitness, because you can do all the nets you want, but you need, as a bowler, to get ready for a tough day of Test cricket," said Anderson.
"You need to be standing in the field for six hours a day and then bowling your spells around that. I remember Peter Moores, my old coach at Lancashire, used to say, two games into a season, that's when I was starting to hit my straps. So I always felt like I knew I needed that time."
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2025/12/07/image-00aa8a6c-b156-4c0e-a8c7-2be4beab022c-85-2560-1440.jpeg)
England v Australia Ashes highlights: Stokes' troops fall 2-0 behind in series
Video credit: TNT Sports
"Sorry, I find that mad," Cook interjected. "So we've got England's best-ever bowler, 700+ wickets, saying I need two, three games. I could have thrown Jimmy out on that Perth game as a captain and trusted in your bowler, but he's got all that experience behind him.
"I'm looking at this bowling attack. There's not much experience really, and they're just going in fresh. I found it almost madness."
Four of England's bowlers - Stokes, Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse, and Will Jacks - had not bowled a single over of first-class cricket since August coming into the Ashes.
- What is England's Ashes record in Adelaide? When did they last win?
- Watch Archer-Smith feud: 'Bowl fast when there's nothing going on, champion'
Stokes' side did play a warm-up match against an England Lions XI at Lilac Hill before their two-day defeat in Perth, but none of the players who featured in the first two Tests were sent to play in a pink-ball win over a Prime Minister's XI in Canberra.
"There's such a big difference from preparing in the nets to the cauldron of a Test match. They've looked undercooked as a bowling side, as a fielding side - this is before we've even got on to our batting," said Cook.
"I get that they might work too hard in the nets in terms of just doing stuff for the sake of doing it, but they had an opportunity to go and play a pink-ball game at Canberra. They had an opportunity to go and put themselves under a bit of pressure.
"They're very good, this England side, I think, at doing easy work. It's not easy; you are training hard. But actually, you can't just go from low-intensity nets or a low-intensity warm-up game at Lilac Hill and get thrown into a massive Ashes game. You cannot.
"You have to build yourself up. I think they've looked mentally and physically un-tough. They've cost themselves. They've cost themselves two good opportunities in this series."
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2025/12/07/image-e2ebc841-1fae-4211-a022-2213f7c590dc-85-2560-1440.jpeg)
England 'a great team when ahead, not when game is on the line' - Stokes
Video credit: TNT Sports
Cook: Angry Stokes has had enough
While McCullum defended his side's preparation before the Perth and Brisbane Tests, captain Stokes cut a frustrated figure after defeat at the Gabba.
The all-rounder pinpointed England's inability to perform under pressure as a leading reason for the successive eight-wicket defeats.
"I think a lot of it, to me, comes down to not being able to stand up to the pressure of this game, this format," said Stokes.
"When the game is on the line, in small passages we've been able to bring the game back into some kind of control and then we've let it slip away. We've done that again here this week.
"It's very, very disappointing, especially considering the ability of the players in that dressing room. I think we need to think a bit harder and a little bit deeper about those moments and what we're taking mentally into those, and yeah, overall just show a little bit more fight when it's needed."
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2025/12/08/image-60e266a0-5e8e-46dc-8fd9-649b47669d98-85-2560-1440.jpeg)
'He's had enough' - Cook predicts Stokes will deliver 'some home truths' after second Test defeat
Video credit: TNT Sports
And former team-mate Cook believes that Stokes will be dishing out "home truths" to certain individuals before the start of the third Test in Adelaide.
"Ben Stokes is the most competitive person I've ever come across," said Cook. "He won't want to lose a game of tiddlywinks or table tennis, and he's seeing his side failing under pressure.
"I think for the first time in his captaining career, some home truths are going to be said to players. Whether he does that publicly as a group in the changing room or individually, he's had enough of seeing his players not performing to their potential.
"And you can see that was anger. That was anger because we know he responds in pressure situations, he delivers the goods all the time and he can't do it every single moment. That's impossible. But he wants other people to do it.
"So that'll be the first time he'll be uncomfortable in the changing room. You don't get many times as a captain to do it, because you lose the effect of it. He's probably not done it before, and I'd imagine his uncomfortable words and maybe some home truths to some players, it will be interesting to see how they respond."
Watch and stream every ball of the Ashes live on TNT Sports and discovery+
Thoughts?
Advertisement
Advertisement