The Ashes: Former players savage England coach Brendon McCullum after saying his ‘overprepared’ comments

Champions of England cricket are piling on Brendon McCullum for his bizarre claim his side trained too much before their Brisbane Test defeat, with one former Test player calling the comments a “cop out”. Ex-England skipper Sir Ian Botham and legends Kevin Pietersen and Darren Gough have also hit back as the Poms turn on each other with their side 2-0 down in the series. Speaking in the wake of England’s second consecutive eight-wicket drubbing to start the series, McCullum said: “leading into this Test match, I actually feel like we overprepared to be honest.” McCullum’s claim they had five intense training session during the 11-day gap between the Perth and Brisbane Tests also raised the eyebrow of his former charge Stuart Broad. The comments were torn to shreds in the United Kingdom overnight, with bowling great Gough posting on social media “over prepared my arse” before Pietersen also posted “‘leading into this Test Match, I think we over prepared.’ Crikey, Baz!”. Botham even suggested England fans had the right to ask for a refund on their tickets. “If I was an England supporter and had paid the money to come here, I’d be asking the ECB for a refund. Because this team, for me, is not prepared,” he told Triple M. Former Test batsman John Morris, who toured Australia in 1990-91, told The West Australian the comments were an excuse for not being ready to do the hard yards. “This has been coming for a while, to be honest,” he said. “The tours are different now, and I have sympathy with that because there’s so much cricket you need to fit in. “But this is the Ashes, and you’ve got to prepare properly. Every coach has to live and die by his philosophy, if you like, and McCullum’s been so positive for England, it’s in many ways a credit to him, but this isn’t working. “You can overprepare for a Test match? What, by practising? I think that’s a bit of a cop out if I’m honest. “There has to be that reset at some point. If you get the reset right and get players thinking more for themselves than just saying this is the way I play, there’s more of an opportunity to succeed. “Preparation is part of the game, being on your feet (all day), as the Aussies like to call it, putting the hard yards in, and England just haven’t been doing it right. “I’m a long way away in England, that’s for certain, but I’ve spent time playing in Australia, spent time playing in Perth 100 years ago, it’s a tough place to play cricket, and you’ve got to be ready for it when it comes. “So, no. I’m afraid it just doesn’t seem quite right to me, that comment.” England are now taking a rest — after just six days of cricket — in Noosa, despite there still being three Tests to play. Morris said it was hard to see England fighting back into the contest. “Have I seen enough in this series (to suggest England can fight back), no, I don’t think I have to be honest,” he said. “I think it’s a big, tall order, but we always have hope to come back into a series. But I can’t see us winning three to bring the Ashes home, that is for certain. “You can call me an old fossil. I only played three Test matches, so I’m not talking from a point of view of a great Test player or anything like that. But as an old professional, you learn how to bat, and you stay in long enough. “And we’re just not doing the basics of the game. And I must say, it shows how I got it wrong and how others got it wrong, because I tipped England to win the series over there, and I can’t see it happening now. “It would be great for the game if England can get 2-1 and get it back to 2-2 again, my goodness, that’d be fantastic, but is it likely? The way Australia have got the wood over England?”