‘We over-prepared’: Bizarre Baz claim has England legends raging as Stokes makes key admission

England has followed another humbling loss to Australia with a concerning concession from captain Ben Stokes and a staggering defence from coach Brendon McCullum.

Under siege in the Ashes after its second straight eight-wicket loss to start the Ashes, England will head to Noosa for some rest and relaxation over the next few days after their coach claimed they had over-prepared for the Brisbane Test.

Watch The Ashes 2025/26 LIVE and ad-break free during play with FOX CRICKET on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.

England’s preparation for the Ashes has been under the microscope for a month and prompted some bewildering responses from an array of senior crickets and coaches. But working too hard had never been identified as the problem until Sunday.

Stokes conceded after the loss that England was deficient in batting, bowling and catching. The solution, it seems, is to stay away from cricket training for a few days and hope it gets better through some time in the surf and on the sand.

After Steve Smith became the first player since Wally Hammond in 1933 to clinch an Ashes Test with a six, an angry swipe of Gus Atkinson over the boundary, McCullum was quizzed as to the reasons for a largely lamentable performance.

He said that after the team had “a beer” on Sunday night before heading north ahead of the Adelaide Test beginning on December 17. To reclaim the Urn, England will need to create history by winning the final three Tests of the series.

“Leading into this Test match, I actually felt like we over-prepared, to be honest,” he told the Seven Network.

READ MORE

TWO-NIL! Smith smokes arch rival to throw England on ropes in FIERY finish to Test

TALKING PTS: Aussie’s new selection ‘nightmare’; sad irony as Bazball plan fails

AUSSIE RATINGS: Hero’s perfect 10, star stuns greats as big selection gamble pays off

ENGLAND RATING: Quicks scolded; top order in gun after SIX Ashes fails

“We had five intense training days and sometimes when you are in the heat of the battle, as well know, sometimes the most important thing is to feel a little bit fresh and make sure your top two inches (brain) is completely sound.

“I think the boys just need a few days off and we probably need to change up a few of the training methods. I’m a horse racing man and you wouldn’t just keep doing the same thing with your horse. You would sent it around in figure eights or over the little jumps just to try and switch it on. We will look at some alternative methods over the next few days.

“We have got a couple of days in Noosa, which will be good to spend a couple of days casually, and let the dust settle on what has been a pretty intense couple of weeks and start to plot and plan our way back into the series.”

He doubled down with the explanation in a separate interview with the BBC, saying it was important to freshen the English squad after overdoing it in the lead-in to the Brisbane Test and that the break will help them regain their best form.

Stokes, who batted with discipline alongside all-rounder Will Jacks on Sunday before falling to a remarkable piece of wicketkeeping from Alex Carey on 50, identified a glaring weakness after England went winless at the Gabba for the tenth straight Test, dating back to 1986.

As talented as he believes his squad is, Stokes acknowledged that “when the game is on the line, (other) teams are able to handle that pressure better than us”.

“They are all incredibly talented players but if you can’t put it down to a skill thing you start to wonder ‘What is it?’ Do we need to start thinking about what mentality we are taking into these pressure moments?” he said.

“When we are on top, we are great, and when behind the game we are also very good, but when the moment is neck and neck, we are not coming out on top on enough occasions.

“When the game is in a moment of neither here nor there, Australian have managed to get through those periods and outdo us.”

Stokes declared the England hierarchy would dig in a bid to find an answer, with a miracle needed for the side to turn around the momentum going into Adelaide, particularly with Australia set to be strengthened by the return of Pat Cummins.

“There is a saying we have said a lot here – Australia is not for weak men,” he told the BBC.

“A dressing room that I am captain of is not a place for weak men either. We need to dig deep. I need to dig deep.

“When you come to Australia you can’t be below your best. You need to make sure you seize every opportunity. In this Test match there were a few moments we had the ascendancy with the bat and we let that slip. And there were times when we didn’t execute with the ball as well as we should have. Clearly our catching was an issue as well.

“It is very hard to beat Australia at home if you are going to be deficient in all those three areas as well.”

During the post-match press conference, Stokes was asked if he appreciated the tourists may come under scrutiny for going on holiday to Noosa following two heavy defeats, stressing the importance of keeping his teammates mentally fresh in a high-pressure series.

“We’ve been here four weeks, and it’s been pretty full on from on the field stuff, off the field stuff,” he told reporters.

“As physical as this game is, huge part of it is also the mental side. I know that. I’ve experienced that. I know what a game can do to you when things aren’t quite feeling right or going well.

“Trust me when I say it is so, so important for teams to be able to go away as a team and almost put the pressures aside for a couple of days.

“This is a high-pressure environment. We chose to do this, we’re lucky enough to do this, it comes with the job, but it’s also very, very important that when you do get the opportunity, that you are able to go away and refresh your mind.”

Stokes was also quizzed on McCullum’s claim that England “over-prepared” for the Gabba Test, with the skipper admitting he had in the past been guilty of training without intent. He want to ensure the side didn’t “waste energy” by conducting additional training sessions purely for optics.

‘There’s a lot of training that you see go on where you’re just doing it for the sake of doing it,” Stokes continued.

“You’re doing it to look right, whereas actually you’re not really achieving anything out of it.

“It might look good to the external world and the external people around you, (but) wasting energy, putting your energy into the wrong reasons as to why you were training can be very, very detrimental.

“On the back of the first Test match when you do desperately want something like we do, maybe you can fall into that, just training to train.”