‘No one had that kind of preparation’- Alastair Cook points ‘critical stuff’ which England missed ahead of 1st Test

Joe Root's England kicked-off the Ashes on a poor note, losing the opening clash in Brisbane by nine wickets. The team were outplayed by the hosts in both the departments of the game, who wrapped up the show well before the five days of play. 

Following England's decimation in the opening clash, several ex-cricketers have weighed their views on what could have possibly gone wrong for the tourists. While few called out the absence of senior bowlers - James Anderson and Stuart Broad - as one of the main reasons, few pointed fingers at poor spin bowling by Jack Leach. 

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Former England captain Sir Alastair Cook, however, feels it was the lack of warm-up matches, which hurt England badly in the Ashes opener. He cited the example of England's triumph over Australia in 2010-11 and explained how the three warm-up matches had played a key factor back then. 

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"This is critical stuff, especially when I think back to 2010-11. Yes, I had one of the most productive series of my life but in the first tour match, I had scores of 5 and 9. I needed those first few innings to get the nerves and anxiety out of the way and my eye back in. When no one in the England team has had that kind of preparation, you end up getting bowled out for 147," the former England skipper wrote in his column for The Times.  

Cook in 2010-11 had amassed a staggering 766 runs, helping England win the series 3-1. However, the current English unit had just one practice match, which also saw disruptions due to rain.