The England and Wales Cricket Board is set to radically overhaul its approach to Ashes preparations after a dismal start to the current series in Australia, with plans already in motion to secure better warm-up facilities for the 2027 tour.
Preparation Under Fire After Heavy Defeats
England's preparations have come under intense scrutiny following two heavy defeats in the opening Ashes Tests. The tourists lost the first Test in Perth inside two days and the second at Brisbane's Gabba in four days, with Australia winning both matches by an eight-wicket margin. The team's buildup, which featured only one competitive match against a second-string England Lions side, has been widely criticised as inadequate.
Legendary all-rounder Ian Botham voiced the frustration of many fans, stating on Sunday: "If I was an England supporter and had paid the money to come here, I’d be asking the ECB for a refund. Because this team, for me, is not prepared."
The Lilac Hill Mismatch
The squad's sole warm-up fixture was a two-day game against the England Lions at Lilac Hill Park in Perth. The venue, a public park, offered a low, slow pitch that was a complete contrast to the pace and bounce encountered at Perth Stadium just days later in the first Test. While Ollie Pope scored 100 and 90 in that match, he has managed only 105 runs across four innings in the actual Ashes series, highlighting the gap between practice and Test match conditions.
England had initially wanted to use the traditional WACA ground in Perth for their preparation. However, a Sheffield Shield match was scheduled there, meaning the only Ashes players to benefit from training at the WACA before the series were Australians Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green.
A New Deal for Future Tours
In response to this fiasco, the ECB is now in discussions with Cricket Australia about a formal memorandum of understanding. The proposed agreement would cover team preparations for the next two Ashes series, guaranteeing both sides high-quality facilities and practice matches on pitches resembling those used in the Tests.
The move is designed to ensure England receive proper preparation when they return to Australia in 2029-30, in exchange for offering Australia their pick of facilities before the 2027 series in England. This would mark a significant shift from the current trend, noted by Australia's chief selector George Bailey, where "there’s more tours that you don’t have a tour match than when you do."
The contrast with other touring teams is stark. When India visited Australia a year earlier, they were given exclusive access to the WACA with pitches prepared by the same ground staff who worked on the Test venue. England, meanwhile, were offered a pink-ball warm-up in Canberra, 600 miles from Brisbane, for the day-night Test—an offer they declined.
While England's coaching staff, including assistant coach Marcus Trescothick, have publicly defended the team's preparation, the push for a formal agreement with Cricket Australia suggests a clear recognition behind the scenes that a change is urgently needed to compete in one of sport's greatest rivalries.
