England's preparation for India Test series "probably not" acceptable, says batting coach Marcus Trescothick

JAMES COYNE AT TRENT BRIDGE: The packed schedule and various balancing acts of rest and rotation have left all of England’s team short of recent red-ball practice, while three players in this XI have not played a first-class match this summer

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England batting coach Marcus Trescothick acknowledged that this summer’s white-ball-heavy schedule was “probably not” acceptable preparation for a major Test series against India. 

England are already up against it one day into the opening LV= Insurance Test of five after a persistent and skilful India team ran through them for 183 and then navigated their way to 21 without loss at the close. 

There are no County Championship matches scheduled between July 15 and August 29 – as the ECB has bet the farm on The Hundred, their new short-form competition aimed at capturing younger demographics to the game, in the height of summer. 

The packed schedule and various balancing acts of rest and rotation in the bio-bubble era have left all of England’s team short of recent red-ball practice, while three players in this XI – Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow and Sam Curran – have not played a first-class match this summer. 

When asked if the run-up to the first Test had been acceptable preparation for the batsmen Trescothick works with, he said: “Probably not, no. 

“I think scheduling is always an issue, and trying to get the balance right heading into a Test series to have played a certain amount of red-ball cricket… 

“But I think trying to get the balance right across the whole summer – for county teams, The Hundred, all these different competitions going on – there’s no easy solution to get this right. Something always has to give. 

“We don’t want to use it as an excuse, but we would love to get more time in them [the batsmen] out at the crease, facing the red ball, and the preparation would be slightly better. But it’s just not the way, and you have to find a way to get into it in a different fashion.” 

^{Sam Curran had not faced the red ball this summer}

Trescothick said that players and coaches are increasingly accustomed with coming into Test matches on the back of white-ball competitions rather than red-ball practice – and that players are “self-sufficient” enough now to work around it. 

“We will go about our preparation trying to get the guys right as we do every match, every competition that we are lucky enough to be involved. We accept that is the way it is but we cannot sit back and say just because we haven’t had the prep that it isn’t going to work. You have to find a way and be self-sufficient and manage your own game along with the coaches. 

“We have strategic plans in place to work with players when they are not practicing with their county or franchise. It is looked at – how much contact time, but as we know that isn’t always enough. 

“If we could get a couple of periods of time where we could get a red-ball game beforehand if the structure fits, then excellent, but quite often you go into a Test match series knowing that you’re coming in off the back of a white-ball competition and that’s just the way international cricket is and you have to find your way as an international player to make that work.” 

The former England opener said that, however potent India’s bowling was, their excellence and their use of subcontinent-style split fields had not come as a surprise. Dom Sibley was one batsman to fall foul of it, picking out short midwicket off the face of the bat. 

“They have a lot of bases covered. You can see the guys are not playing, how much quality they have also. They have a good stock currently. 

“They don't get into the WTC final for no reason; they play home and away and have to have a seam attack to back that up. We saw them go to Australia and perform there, so it's no surprise to us. It's just challenging and we know it's a real contest, we have to raise our game to match up against their skills. We have that ability, it's just making sure we do it better than we have done today.

“We look at all footage, every ball is recorded, and we realised they'd come straight away with a legside field. It's different to many teams we face at home but we were expecting it and can hopefully adjust.” 

Trescothick added that England should not let the course of the first day dispirit them, with so much time left in the match. 

“I see them play and practice and the talent that they have. We have to make sure we stay positive about what’s going on. This doesn’t define how the rest of the game or the series will go.”