England's approach to preparing for major tours has undergone a fundamental shift, particularly for the Test side under new coach Stephen Fleming, as the organisation confronts the consequences of an experimental philosophy that prioritised enjoyment over competitive readiness. The change comes ahead of winter assignments in South Africa, Bangladesh and Australia, following a damaging 4–1 Ashes defeat that exposed the limitations of minimal preparation.
The previous strategy, championed by Brendon McCullum after his appointment as Test coach in 2022, deliberately minimised formal warm-up fixtures in favour of team-bonding activities and off-field relaxation. When England began their 2025–26 Ashes campaign, their preparation consisted of a single warm-up match against the Lions at Lilac Hill, a low, slow suburban ground near Perth, before the first Test ended inside two days.
Harry Brook, reflecting on England's approach to the New Zealand tour the year before, described the ethos that underpinned McCullum's philosophy.
Obviously there was a bit of golf played and a few drinks here and there and team meals and whatnot. It was just about trying to spend a bit of time together. They've got some amazing golf courses and we were lucky enough to get on a couple of them. A couple of the other lads managed to get out and enjoy Queenstown. Everybody had a lot of fun.
McCullum had articulated this philosophy clearly during his first winter in charge, even curtailing a warm-up fixture to take his squad to watch one of his racehorses in action.
You've got to make it enjoyable, not just on the field but off the field, too. We want guys to know that, when they board a plane to head overseas, they're going to have a great time. The results will hopefully follow. I always felt when I was playing that everything was based around the cricket and sometimes you forgot to enjoy yourself. We'll see how it works out but it's worth a crack.
The consequences of that experiment became impossible to ignore. Richard Thompson, chair of the England and Wales Cricket Board, acknowledged the miscalculation on Monday.
There is a lot that was learned. The reality is in those decisions, mistakes were made and we've corrected that now.Thompson's admission came after McCullum was stripped of his Test coaching role in July, with Stephen Fleming taking over the red-ball side.
How has England's white-ball preparation changed?
The shift in approach became evident when McCullum announced late in England's summer that he was
trying to include a number of warm-up gamesin the schedule, acknowledging that
a lot of these guys just haven't played a lot of white-ball cricket. As a result, England will play a 50-over warm-up against a Western Australia XI at the WACA on November 7, six days before their first ODI against Australia. This marks the first time in six years that England have scheduled a warm-up match before a white-ball series.
The irony is pointed: the WACA, located just across the river from the Optus Stadium where the first Ashes Test will be played, is the venue many observers believed England should have used for Ashes preparation in the first place. The ground is overseen by curator Isaac McDonald, whose expertise in maintaining
the characteristics of pace and bouncemade the choice of Lilac Hill's slow surface particularly puzzling in retrospect.
McCullum acknowledged that England's ODI squad lacks experience beyond Jos Buttler, Joe Root and Adil Rashid, and that warm-ups would help players get up to speed. England's Australia white-ball tour comprises three ODIs and five T20 internationals, running from November 13 to December 2, and the ECB has indicated that the new warm-up fixture also supports preparation for the 2027 50-over World Cup.
What is the new Test preparation schedule?
For the Test side under Fleming, the overhaul is even more comprehensive. England will now play competitive warm-up matches before all three foreign assignments this winter. A Cricket South Africa Invitation XI will provide opposition in Durban in December, while the traditional Prime Minister's XI fixture has been relocated from Canberra to Melbourne's Junction Oval and will be played with a pink ball in preparation for the 150th anniversary Test at the MCG in March.
The two-match Test series in Bangladesh in February and March, itself serving as preparation for the Melbourne assignment, will be preceded by its own warm-up fixture. This represents a dramatic reversal: within a year, England have progressed from scheduling no significant warm-ups at all to arranging a warm-up game at the end of a warm-up series that is itself preceded by another warm-up match.
What structural changes support the new approach?
The ECB and Cricket Australia have agreed a formal reciprocal arrangement to improve touring teams' Ashes preparation, including access to suitable wickets and facilities. This institutional commitment reflects a recognition that preparation cannot be left to chance or improvisation.
The change of coach—from McCullum to Fleming—and the change of philosophy represent the straightforward part of the correction. Fleming, who has begun his tenure with an ambitious vision to transform the team into the world's leading Test nation, inherits a squad that must now prove results can improve alongside the new approach. The real examination will come on the field, beginning with England's three-Test tour of South Africa starting December 17 in Johannesburg, continuing at Centurion from December 26 and Cape Town from January 3.
What lies ahead for England's winter schedule?
Before the South Africa tour, England will compete in a tri-series in Pakistan involving Sri Lanka, beginning October 20. This sequence of assignments will test whether structured preparation and competitive warm-ups can restore England's standing in international cricket after a summer marked by leadership upheaval and the departure of both McCullum and captain Ben Stokes.
