Ashes 2025-26: McCullum says England 'over prepared' after Brisbane Test loss

England are 0-2 down in the Ashes Down Under after another eight-wicket loss, this time at the Gabba in day-nigh Brisbane Test. England were not at par with Australia barring Joe Root's maiden Test century in Australia but head coach Brendon McCullum thinks the reason for loss is 'over preparedness.'

"Leading into this Test match, I actually felt like we over-prepared, to be honest," McCullum told Australian broadcaster Channel 7 after the loss. "We had five intense training days. When you're in the heat of the battle, as we all know, sometimes the most important thing is to feel a little bit fresh and make sure your top two inches [of your head] is completely sound."

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The reason can be categorieed as bizarre as England's philosophy of playing attacking cricket all the time, even when the situation demands a bit of patience. Across both innings in the Brisbane Test, the most balls played by any England batter, apart from Root's 206 in the first innings for ton, is 152 by Ben Stokes in the second innings for his 50 but it was too late by then.

Only five England batters were able to cross 50-ball mark in both innings combined including Root and Stokes, highlighting lack of patience by visitors which definitely played a big role them looking 0-2 in the five-Test Ashes series.

There's been only once in the history of Test cricket that a team has come back from 0-2 to win the series and yes, that moment came in Ashes only but not for England.

It was Don Bradman's Australia which were down 0-2 in 1936-37 Ashes when they came back in some style to win the series. As for Ben Stokes's England, the series looks done and dusted, barring a miracle.