England captain Ben Stokes has fired back at critics of his team's truncated Ashes preparations, labelling former players questioning the schedule as 'has-beens'. The full England squad arrived in Perth on Tuesday, less than two weeks before the first Test begins on November 21 at Perth Stadium.
Stokes's side will play a three-day warm-up match against an England Lions XI starting Thursday, after a limited-overs series in New Zealand. Some former players, including England legend Ian Botham, have questioned the lack of first-class warm-up matches ahead of the five-Test series.
'We've been preparing for this tour not [just] over the last three weeks; we've been putting a lot of thought and process into this for the last few years now,' Stokes told reporters. 'I don't know what else we're expected to be able to do. There's [Sheffield] Shield cricket going on at the moment, so who would we play against? So 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' compared to previous generations. England will also face the Prime Minister's XI in Canberra during the nine-day gap between the first Test in Perth and the second in Brisbane.
England are seeking their first Test win on Australian soil since the 2010/11 series. Stokes and fellow veteran Joe Root have never won a Test in Australia, with England losing the last three away Ashes series 5–0, 4–0 and 4–0. Root has not scored a Test century in Australia in 14 matches.
'He's the greatest English batter that the nation's seen,' Stokes said of Root. 'He's been in phenomenal form over the last two or three years. He's not come out here to score a 100 in Australia, he's come out here to contribute to the team.' Stokes urged his team not to be daunted by the occasion, saying there is 'a lot more that goes on away from the cricket itself' but it is 'nothing to be afraid of'.
