Ian Botham has raised fresh concerns about England’s decision to play just one internal match in Australia before the start of the Ashes and said he is worried the visitors will be underprepared.
The former England captain, who previously said the light warm-up schedule “borders on arrogance”, suggested the tourists needed more time to adapt to the conditions.
The last of the England players to join up with the squad in Perth arrived on Sunday and they will only face the England Lions, essentially the reserves, in a three-day match before the Ashes begins on 21 November.
“It's not the way I would prepare,” Botham, who was part of away victories in 1978-79 and 1986-87, said in Melbourne on Tuesday.
“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.
“The ball does seems to get to you quicker (in Perth) and the light's different. You've got the 'Fremantle Doctor'; there's all kinds of things go into the melting pot.”
Under Brendon McCullum, England have previously preferred shorter warm-up periods before away tours. England are attempting to win their first away Ashes series since 2010-11, where they played two three-day friendlies and one four-day warm-up in preparation.
England played two internal matches against the England Lions before the last 2021-22 Ashes, before losing the series 4-0. Botham, however, said he hoped for a better performance from Ben Stokes’s side and urged the visitors to deploy an “aggressive” pace attack against Australia.
"If England's bowlers can stay fit, which doesn't happen very often, and the captain can play a full part then I think England have a got a real chance,” he said.
"I think it's the right way. You want to be aggressive, come through and players, if they're not playing very well, don't like it in the ribs. So, yeah, it'll be interesting."
