Former England captain Alastair Cook slams preparation for first Test match vs SA: It makes zero sense
India Today
England were drubbed by South Africa in the first Test match at Lord’s on Friday, 19 August. The hosts failed to tackle the four-pronged pace attack.
Former England captain Alastair Cook lashed out at the England Test team after their innings defeat in the first Test match against South Africa at Lord’s. Cook called out the lack of First Class games coming into the series and said that there were no excuses for this mess up.
"What is weird is we normally talk about the touring side running into a series with not enough match practice,” Cook said on BBC’s Test match special.
"We always say it's such an advantage in the first game England normally have in Test series.We're talking about the structure of the game so much, we're talking about when should cricket be played... it makes zero sense that there is no first-class cricket going on for anyone to play when there's a Test match series going on,” he further added.
England last played a Test match in the one off game against India, which was originally set to be played in 2021. Since then, the team has been under the captaincy of Jos Buttler and have played only white-ball series. In the domestic side of things, players have been kept busy with the Royal London Cup and The Hundred and have not had any time to practice with the red ball.
Cook stated that this kind of scheduling had to change for a side to be better prepared.
"That has to change. There is no excuse for it. That has to change."
