England make schedule changes amid fierce criticism after first Test hammering

Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have made a change to England’s training schedule ahead of the second Ashes Test.

The tourists face Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane next week following their crushing defeat in Perth.

England faced just 67.3 overs across their two innings as the hosts secured an eight-wicket victory.

It was the lowest number of overs faced by England in Test loss since 1904.

Ahead of the second Test, which begins on December 4, Stokes and McCullum have opted schedule extra training sessions.

They had previously planned to have three days of nets and practice in the build-up to the day-night Test.

However, England’s players will now have five days worth of preparation ahead of the match.

A session will be held at Allan Border Field near on Saturday before another extra session at the Gabba the following day.

It had originally been expected that England would begin their build-up on Monday.

Of their five sessions, the two on Monday and Wednesday will be under floodlights.

England usually train for two to three days before a Test match but have trained for longer in the past during pre-tour camps.

The players have been in Brisbane since Wednesday after flying from Perth following the first Test.

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England criticism

Stokes and McCullum’s decision comes after England faced criticism for not making any members of the first Test team available for the England Lions.

The so-called ‘second tier’ team face the Prime Minister’s XI in a two-day pink ball match in Canberra this weekend.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan is amongst those to comment on the move, which he has labelled ‘nonsense’.

Discussing the decision, he said: “It’s nonsense. If this comes back to bite them then it will be a big failure of the management.

“This wouldn’t happen in football, imagine if England went to the World Cup with no warm-up games.

“They need to be more open to changing things rather than sticking with what they believe is best.”

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England have won only two of their seven day-night Test matches, with three of those defeats coming Down Under.

Meanwhile, Jamie Smith and Gus Atkinson have never played a first-class day-night Test match.

When is the second Ashes Test?

The second Ashes Test will get underway on Thursday, December 4 at the Gabba in Brisbane.

It is scheduled to continue through until Tuesday, December 8.

Play on day one is set to begin at 4am GMT for the pink ball match between England and Australia.

The hosts currently lead the five-match Test series 1-0 following their win in Perth last week.