McCullum stressed the need for players to be physically and mentally fresh for crucial decisions.
England head coach Brendon McCullum attributed his team’s defeat in the second Ashes Test against Australia at Gabba to “too much of training”, suggesting that excessive preparation may have contributed to the side’s struggles to adapt to conditions.
McCullum stressed the need for players to be physically and mentally fresh for crucial decisions during matches.
After the Ashes opener at Perth ended in two days, the tourists did not send any players to the pink-ball Prime Minister’s XI match in Canberra. They had not participated in a day/night Test since early 2023, and three players in the current XI had never played one before.
England instead chose to go to Brisbane and trained for five days, adding two extra practice sessions.
"If anything, we trained too much," McCullum said in two separate interviews to 7cricket and BBC. "We had five to 10 training session leading into this game."
"That’s something as a coach you have to be aware of. Sometimes there is a tendency to overdo things to make up for it," the coach said to BBC.
McCullum added, "As we all know, in this game it is played in the top two inches. We all have to find way that we ensure that we feel prepared physically, technically and we are ready for the battle, but also to make sure we are fresh and make sure we can make those decisions in the heat of the games."
"We will have a beer tonight. I think leading into this Test match I actually felt like we overprepared to be honest," McCullum told 7Cricket.
After gaining a heft first-innings lead of 177 runs, Australia bundled out England for 241 in the second essay and then chased down the paltry target of 65 with eight wickets in hand.
McCullum acknowledged England’s struggle to adjust to conditions in the pink-ball fixture of the Ashes series.
"We have got some work to do. We have some time. We have been here before and there is no point feeling sorry for yourself. You pick yourself up and you go again," he said.
"We weren't at our best. To beat Australia in Australia, you have to be at your best across all three disciplines and we weren't. That is brutal honesty and we will wear that. From our point of view, we know we have to be better. We have to be a lot quicker to adapt to the conditions in Adelaide. I thought we were a bit slow to adapt to the conditions here."
With this defeat, England conceded a 0-2 lead to Australia in the five-match series. The two teams will now square off in the third Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval, starting on December 17.