'We are confident': England cricket bosses respond to mounting criticism of Ashes preparation

England has defended its preparation for the Ashes series amid criticism over a single warm-up match against England 'A'.

Earlier this month, legendary former all-rounder Ian Botham criticised England team bosses for not scheduling matches against Aussie state teams, saying it "borders on arrogance".

The England team will fly to Australia after this weekend's third and final one-day international in New Zealand, and will have three weeks to prepare before the first Ashes Test in Perth.

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During that time they'll play in a three-day warm-up against the England youth development side.

The golden years of Ashes cricket in the 1980s and '90s would often see touring teams arrive much earlier and play several state teams that would feature Australian players taking part in the Ashes.

Yet the increased volume of international cricket has changed the way touring teams approach their schedule.

"I understand where the question comes from, the history of the game," said Ed Barney, the ECB's performance director.

"The interesting question is - have you looked at the Future Tours Programme? Have you looked at franchise cricket and the fact that a multi-format player left the country on 13 October and if they play in every England commitment and play in the Indian Premier League and The Hundred they will have less than two weeks off between now and the end of September?

"There is a volume of cricket that takes place that means there is a constant balancing of red-ball, white-ball, franchise and domestic cricket commitments.

"We are confident in the set-up, the approach, the time the team have got together, the ability we have had to provide a set of different preparations that are optimal for different players."

England is using the white ball tour of NZ as a form of preparation for the Ashes but if the form of their most notable batters is anything to go by, then the touring team could be in some trouble.

Only 43 runs have been scored between Joe Root, Ben Duckett and Jamie Smith in four matches.

There were some bright spots. ODI captain Harry Brook scored a century in the first clash against NZ, while fast bowler Jofra Archer took 3-23 in the second match.

The ECB has been successful with the current approach during other tours, with victories in series openers in both India and Pakistan last year.

The English team did not play warm up matches on those tours and ended up losing the series after taking game one.

Barnes says the warm up against England 'A' is not what most people think it will be.

"The Lions is not a second team," said Barney.

"We are going after supporting the highest potential and the next best.

"We are always blending a balance of the highest potential, people we are excited about, whether with a foresight they might play for England in two to four years or we have some that might be next best in line, that is where we have the fluidity and optionality of who we select.

"There is always an element of that."

England batting coach Marcus Trescothick echoed Barnes' sentiments, saying he is satisfied with just one warm-up match.

"It's something that's worked really well for us before, keeping it short, sharp and intense," Trescothick said from New Zealand.

"There's so much cricket being played, it's not necessarily about having five (warm up) games because that has an impact later in the series, if you take that time and add that to a trip, you're there for four months, that's really tricky."

Adding credence to England's methodology is the fact that a lack of warm up matches has worked for other touring parties in Australia.

India won a Test series Down Under in 2018-19 when they played one four-day warm-up against a Cricket Australia XI prior to the first Test.

They played two games against Australia A in 2020-21 when they returned for a series that summer.

However, there's also data that suggests playing more tour games in Australia is beneficial to touring teams - especially England.

When England won the series in 1986-87, they began with three warm-up matches against Australian state sides, and then played more tour matches between Tests on top of white ball cricket.

In 2010-11 England, captained by Andrew Strauss, played three first class matches prior to the first Test, and claimed the series 3-1.

But it's not a hard and fast rule either way.

Guided by Alastair Cook in 2013-14, England followed s similar schedule to the one in 2010-11 under Strauss, and were thrashed 5-0.

Before the 4-0 defeat in 2017-18, England played a two-day match and two first-class matches prior to the first Test.