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Botham has once again hit out at England’s lack of a proper warm-up match after a harrowing first Test defeat in Perth, with their focus on net practice instead
Luke BakerMonday 24 November 2025 13:40 GMTComments
CloseShell-shocked England fall to heavy Ashes defeat inside two days
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Ian Botham has lambasted England’s Ashes preparation once again, calling their decision to play ODIs in New Zealand ahead of the series “absolute nonsense” and insisting that “nets are for fishing” when asked about the merits of practice versus a competitive red-ball warm-up match.
England came under severe criticism for their preparation even before a humiliating first Test defeat to Australia in Perth, with a number of ex-internationals, including Botham, claiming they would be under-cooked.
In late October and early November, England’s one-day side played three matches against New Zealand and suffered a disheartening 3-0 series defeat, with Test stars such as Ben Duckett and Joe Root struggling out in the middle.
After arriving in Australia, they opted not to face any state sides but have just a single three-day, in-house warm-up game against the England Lions at Lilac Hill before the first Test got underway at Optus Stadium on 21 November.
Botham repeatedly spoke out against this decision, stating in mid-October that “I’m worried. We’re going to wander in and have a little game with the ‘A’ team. Not one (state match) which borders on arrogance. You’ve got to give yourself the chance.”
He doubled down on that a little over a week before the first Test, saying: “It's not the way I would prepare. I think historically you have to acclimatise when you come down here. You've got to remember there's 24 million people down here, not 11. And you have to take that on board.”
open image in galleryIan Botham was unequivocal in his criticism of England’s Ashes preparation (Getty)Botham – who was part of two victorious tours of Australia in 1978-79 and 1986-87 – appears to have been proven right, given the embarrassing eight-wicket defeat that England suffered in Perth. They were beaten inside two days – the first time an Ashes Test had been that short for 104 years.
He has now gone even further when discussing the decision to play only the Lions warm-up and focus on practice in the nets instead of live matchplay.
“Nets are for fishing, they don’t do anything for me,” Botham scoffed in an interview with The Telegraph. “It’s in the middle that it counts, and I don’t think our bowlers do enough. They’re mollycoddled.
“England haven’t won a match in Australia for 14 years, and that’s why I would have given myself more of a chance by being here earlier. What the hell were we doing, playing three one-dayers in New Zealand? An absolute nonsense.”
open image in galleryEngland slipped to a disheartening defeat in the first Test (REUTERS)Pre-Test comments from Botham, as well as the likes of Michael Vaughan and Geoffrey Boycott, appeared to irk England captain Ben Stokes, who hit back at the retired cricketers having their say.
“We’ve not been preparing for this tour over the last three weeks, we’ve put a lot of thought and process into this for a few years now,” he said. “There’s quite a few factors that play into why we can’t prepare how the has-beens maybe prepared in the past. The landscape of cricket has changed and that affects preparation and how you are able to do it.
“You used to be able to come out on a tour a month-and-a-half, two months before the first game started. Now there’s so much cricket packed into the schedule, it’s impossible to do it how it used to be done.”
When asked if he bristled at that retort from Stokes, Botham claims he simply wants to see England win.
“You never know with Ben whether he’s being serious or flippant,”added Botham. “Prove me wrong. If they do [win], I’ll be absolutely delighted, because I love to see England do well.”
open image in galleryBotham wrote his name in Ashes folklore down the years (Hulton Archive)There were suggestions after a first Test where the team struggled that England should send a number of their first-teamers to play in this week’s practice match between England Lions and a Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra. The pink-ball fixture would serve as the perfect warm-up for the second Ashes Test in Brisbane, which will use the same ball in the day-night format under the floodlights.
However, it was confirmed today that senior stars won’t be headed to the Manuka Oval, with only squad players Josh Tongue, Jacob Bethell and Matthew Potts slated to make the trip as the main team focus on extra net sessions at the Gabba.
The move directly contradicts calls from figures such as Michael Vaughan, who labelled the prospect of not sending key men to experience a floodlit fixture against the Prime Minister’s XI as "amateurish”.
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