The Ashes: England ‘trained too much’ says Brendon McCullum as Ben Stokes questions mentality

Coach Brendon McCullum said England had been training “too much”, while captain Ben Stokes said he was fielding questions about his team’s mentality following their crushing defeat against Australia in the second Test.

Although England struggled a bit, they were beaten by eight wickets in Brisbane and lost 2-0 in the five-match Ashes series.

England’s preparations for the much-anticipated contest have been thoroughly questioned, with England playing only one intra-squad warm-up match before the series and skipping the pink-ball warm-up before the second Test.

“We had five to 10 training sessions leading up to this match,” McCullum told BBC Test Match Special.

“Sometimes there is a tendency to exaggerate things to compensate.

“We actually trained a lot.”

He added: “As we all know, this game is played in the top two inches.

“We’ve all got to find a way to make sure we feel physically and technically prepared and battle ready, but also make sure we’re fresh and able to make those decisions in the middle of games.”

Stokes led the resistance on the final day, surviving 50 runs off 152 balls, but England lost 4-17 after batsman Will Jacks was dismissed, leaving Australia with a 65-run chase in the second innings.

Stokes denied that England’s problems were due to skill and instead questioned why they were unable to capitalize on key moments.

“They’re all incredibly talented players, but if you can’t put it down to a matter of skill, you start to wonder what it is?” Stokes said.

“Do we need to start thinking about what mindset we adopt in these moments of pressure?

“We’re great when we’re on top and we’re great when we’re behind the game, but when it’s a head-to-head moment, we don’t come out on top enough times.”