England captain Ben Stokes has hit back at criticism of his team's truncated Ashes preparation, labelling former players who questioned the schedule as 'has-beens'. The England squad landed in Perth on Tuesday, less than two weeks before the first Test starting on November 21 at Perth Stadium.
Stokes's side will play a three-day warm-up match against an England Lions XI from Thursday, after six limited-overs matches in New Zealand last month. Some former players, including England legend Ian Botham, have questioned the lack of red-ball warm-up matches.
'I don't know what else we're expected to be able to do. There's Shield cricket going on at the moment, so who would we play against?' Stokes told reporters. 'There's quite a few factors that play into the whole of why we can't prepare how the has-beens have maybe prepared in the past.'
Stokes said the modern schedule is 'jam-packed' and that his team has been planning for this tour for years. He also backed Joe Root to overcome his poor record in Australia, where he has not scored a century in 14 Tests. 'He's the greatest English batter that the nation's seen,' Stokes said.
England will face the Prime Minister's XI in Canberra during the gap between the first Test in Perth and the second in Brisbane. They are aiming to become the first England men's team to win a Test in Australia since 2010/11.
