Former England fast bowler Darren Gough has criticized Brendon McCullum after the England coach claimed he had over-prepared his team for the pink-ball Test in Brisbane. Due to extra training, England’s players were not fresh enough against the Australian team.
Australia has once again proved why they are an invincible team on their own soil. England’s record in the Australian Islands has never been good and their disappointing performance continues. England’s greats have dared to call the Australian team the weakest in the history of the Ashes, but the Australian team, led by stand-in captain Steve Smith, has beaten them twice in the series.
Currently, Australia are on top of the WTC points table with 5 wins from 5 matches and have a PCT of 100, while on the other hand, England have slipped to 7th and are above only Bangladesh and West Indies after 7 matches in this WTC cycle.
Brendon McCullum said England were ‘highly prepared’ for second Ashes Test
England lost the second Test match due to a disastrous performance by the batsmen as the Australian bowlers continued to chip away at the British edge. He kept playing drives and putting the ball on the sidelines; The entire batting unit almost repeated their mistakes which caused them to collapse throughout the game, especially in the second innings.
“We’ll have a beer tonight. I think heading into this Test match, to be honest, I really felt like we were over-prepared. We’ve had five intense training days, and sometimes when you’re in the heat of battle, the most important thing is to feel a bit fresh and make sure your top two inches are completely healthy,” McCullum said after England’s defeat at the Gabba.
“I think the boys just need a few days off and we probably need to change some of the ways we train,” McCullum said on preparations ahead of the third Test.
England strongly criticized the English head coach
Former English fast bowler Darren Gough has criticized England head coach Brendon McCullum for his comments that he had over-prepared the players, which led to their defeat in the second Ashes match.
Gough took to Ax to criticize the former Kiwi after he dismissed his comments after the visitors went down 2-0 in the ongoing series.
Darren Gough replied, “I’ve prepared too much.”
My ass is very ready#Ashes2025
– Darren Gough MBE (@DGoughie) 7 December 2025
“Australia is not for weaklings,” Ben Stokes on the team’s mentality ahead of the Adelaide Test.
England captain Ben Stokes has questioned the mentality of his own team and claimed that players should come forward for the team in situations of severe pressure. It has already lost two matches and the third Test will start from December 17 in Adelaide.
“Do we need to start thinking about what mindset we are adopting in those pressure moments? When we are on top, we are great, and when behind in the game, we are great too, but when the moment is tough, we are not coming out on top on enough occasions,” Ben Stokes said in BBC Test Match Special.
He further said, “There is a saying that we have said a lot here – Australia is not for weak people. The dressing room where I am the captain is also not a place for weak people.”
Also read: Steve Smith justifies the exclusion of ‘angry’ Nathan Lyon from Gabba Test, calls Michael Neser ‘more valuable’