England's practice schedule during their ODI series whitewash in India has come under attack after high-profile commentators criticised their sparse training timetable.
England's training for the series came to attention during the final match of the series in Ahmedabad, which they lost by 142 runs. That loss sealed a 3-0 series defeat for England, who lost by four wickets in both Nagpur and Cuttack.
What was said about England's training schedule?
Speaking on commentary in Ahmedabad while England were batting, Ravi Shastri brought England's training schedule to attention. "From what I've heard, England have had one net session this entire trip, if not any. If you're not prepared to do the hard yards, you're not going to improve."
Kevin Pietersen also weighed in on the tourists' preparation in between matches, alleging that only Joe Root of England's squad trained in the nets ahead of the final ODI. He also said that Tom Banton, who flew over from Dubai to Ahmedabad ahead of the final match to replace the injured Jacob Bethell, with Jamie Smith also missing the game with injury, had spent the day before the game on the golf course rather than training.
"The two hour flight from Dubai across here, he [Banton] was on the golf course yesterday," said Pietersen. "He wasn't batting, and where have the issues come? The start 1-60, 2-80, and then what happens? None of them can play spin. And how do you improve playing spin?"
England collapsed from 126-2 to 214 all-out in Ahmedabad, which signed off their first series under Brendon McCullum. They have now slumped to 16 defeats in the 23 ODIs they have played since the 2023 World Cup.
Speakin on TNT Sport after the match, Matt Prior gave a more balanced view of England's training schedule. "It’s very easy to sit here now and say, ‘they should be in the nets every minute of every day working hard, what’s this golf rubbish?’" said Prior. "I’m sure there will be people at home fiercely frustrated by watching England lose time and time again...
Your initial reaction is, ‘Hang on, they’ve done one net session in this whole ODI series, and that one batsman is Joe Root. Makes sense. He’s the best batsman England have. You’ve got young players who have struggled for runs. Why are they not going there in the nets working hard?’ India, that nation just loves cricket. You turn up at the nets, there are literally 40 kids who all want to bowl at you all day long. If you want to get your kit on and bat for six hours against spin, you have that opportunity to work on your game, to practice. I think we have to be balanced as well. It’s been a long tour, there’s been a lot of time away, the travel thing is an element, especially when you’re losing, you can’t just take all elements of fun away and keep beating yourself. I know we’ve spoken about that awful Ashes series that Finny and I have tried desperately hard to forget in 2013/14. We just netted and netted and netted and worked and worked and we just couldn’t get any form. We should have just gone and played golf, quite frankly. You’re trying to find balance in it. My view is, a young team, rebuilding, an opportunity in the subcontinent to build for a Champions Trophy, you should be in the nets. You should be working on your game trying to improve yourself.
What's the truth?
While there is truth in the literal training schedule outlined by the pundits - that England haven't trained as a group since the opening ODI in Nagpur - Wisden.com understands that the England camp are unhappy with how their timetable has been represented. Their main complaint is the lack of context in the remarks around the series schedule and their concern over the growing number of injuries in their squad.
There was a three-day turnaround between both the first and second ODIs, and the second and third, into which an internal flight had to be factored into. While the flights between the venues are short - both less than three hours - it's not standard practice for players to train directly after travelling in order to prevent injuries.
England were also carrying several injuries during the latter part of the series. Jofra Archer missed the second two matches, as did Bethell - who has now been ruled-out of the Champions Trophy. Jamie Smith missed the entire series with a calf issue, while Brydon Carse (toe) and Jamie Overton (hamstring) are also nursing niggles. In Ahmedabad, Jos Buttler, Mark Wood and Ben Duckett all spent time off the field with injury concerns.
It's also worth noting that India did not train ahead of the final ODI.
With the squad due to travel to Pakistan in the next few days ahead of their Champions Trophy campaign, England are also keen to preserve the freshness of their squad. At a minimum, players who were involved in the T20I series in India will have been away for six weeks by the end of England's group matches in the Champions Trophy.
England will play their first match in that campaign in Lahore, against Australia on February 22.
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