McCullum says England’s Ashes problem is overtraining, plans a beach recovery

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) – Brendon McCullum figured out England’s main problem after back-to-back eight-wicket losses to Australia in the Ashes: Overdoing it in training.

So, needing to win the last three tests of the series to reclaim the old urn – the symbol of the intense rivalry between England and its former colony – the England coach wants his squad to recharge and recover at one of Australia’s premier beach resorts.

In interviews with Australian and British broadcasters, McCullum spoke about the hostile conditions Down Under and said the biggest problem after the heavy series-opening loss in Perth was too much practice before the day-night test in Brisbane.

“Leading into this test match I felt like we overprepared, to be honest,” he told Australia’s 7 network Sunday night after the eight-wicket loss at the Gabba. “We had five intense training days and I think sometimes when you’re in the heat of the battle, sometimes the most important thing is to feel a little bit fresh and make sure your (headspace) is completely sound.

“I think the boys just need a few days off. Need to change up the training methods a little bit. We’ll let the dust settle on what has been a pretty intense last couple of weeks and start to plot and plan our way back into the series.”

The third test starts Dec. 17 in Adelaide, where Australia needs only a draw to retain the Ashes.

Across the first two tests, England has forfeited strong positions with indisciplined bowling or poor shot selection from batters attempting to score needlessly quickly, and also dropped too many catches.

The coaching staff has been criticized for only organizing one tour game in Australia to warm up ahead of the series. Coaches and players have been criticized by an increasing number of ex-international players for pursuing the attack-at-all-costs mentality rather than adapting to the conditions or match situations.

McCullum’s method is to keep looking forward.

“The message from the captain, the message from myself: You can’t come to this country and start sulking and feeling sorry for yourself if things haven’t worked out,” McCullum said. “You can’t have a glass jaw when you tour Australia. You’ve got to stand up and you’ve got to go again. You’ve got to wear a few on the way in and you’ve got to head toward the target.”

England hasn’t won an Ashes test in Australia since winning the series in 2010-11. That’s something head coach McCullum and captain Ben Stokes are determined to fix.

Stokes knuckled down Sunday with a defiant half-century and a 96-run partnership with allrounder Will Jacks, reverting to a conventional test cricket approach that gave England a glimmer of hope and delayed Australia’s victory.

Stokes said the England squad has the talent and skill to win in Australia, but just needs to work out how to be better than Australia in the most intense moments.

“When you know it’s not down to skill, you’ve probably got to dig a little deeper and find out what the thing is that we seem to keep doing in those big moments in the game,” Stokes said. “It just seems to be a constant theme at the moment that when the game is in a pressure moment, Australia keep outdoing us in those moments.”

The intense heat and light in Australia can be difficult for visiting teams, along with the extra bounce in the pitches that bake in the summer sun. The crowds at Ashes tests can be big and boistrous, and just as unrelenting as the sun.

“They say Australia isn’t a place for weak men – we’re definitely not weak but we need to find something because we’re 2-0 down and we’ve got three games to go,” Stokes said. “We’re not going to shy away from the battle that we’ve got in front of us (but) we do need to look at where things have gone wrong in these first two games and sort them out pretty quick if we want to get these Ashes back to England.”