Brendon McCullum clarifies 'overprepared' stance

England head coach Brendon McCullum has clarified that his post-Brisbane comments about England possibly having "overprepared" were aimed primarily at protecting the dressing room, stating that internal messaging can often be interpreted differently in the public space.

"Yeah, there's a couple of elements to it," McCullum said. "First of all, what you're saying to your dressing room is you're trying to evaluate where the team's at, at the end of a Test match, and at the end of a loss knowing that you have nine days before you need to go back out into the arena. So the messages to the guys are always a matter of trying to shift the focus forward as well... you're trying to shift it forward so that your confidence levels don't dip. Because when they do you have no chance. Absolutely no chance. So what you say to them and then what you say in the media can be quite different."

McCullum reiterated that shielding players remains central to his role, even if it places him under greater scrutiny. He also stressed that his reference to being "over prepared" was not a critique of work ethic, but of how England managed their energy after a difficult loss.

"In terms of being over prepared, it's not about working the hardest. Working the hardest doesn't guarantee you success. Working the longest doesn't guarantee you success," he said. "What I meant by us being over prepared is we had five intense training sessions. In my opinion we almost we left ourselves a fraction short in terms of our energy and our ability to play what was in front of us, which on that wicket required quite a different game to necessarily what your training needs.

McCullum pointed to adaptability as the key skill required in Australian conditions. "You have to think on your feet. You have to be able to manoeuvre your game. You have to be able to identify risk.

"If you over prepare or you over train based on how many balls you hit on a true surface it can leave you a little bit ill prepared in that moment. There is no perfect preparation... That's not how it works but for me I think you need an edge about when you enter a game."

That edge, he said, comes from freshness, something he accepted responsibility for misjudging. "You need to be mentally fresh. You need to be physically fresh. And five intense training sessions on the back of a difficult loss [in Perth] I don't think necessarily gave us our best chance. And I'll wear that. I'm happy to wear that as leader. It's best if the focus is on me not the others."

Asked whether his position was under threat if he was not able to engineer a comeback in this Ashes series, McCullum remained unconcerned. "I don't know, but it doesn't really bother me to be honest. You have conviction in what you're doing and whatever happens, happens. I certainly don't coach to protect a job. I coach to get the best out of people and that's the same with the skipper."

That conviction, McCullum insisted, would not change with the series on the line. "We'll remain committed to what we're doing. I firmly believe if we play our best cricket, we have a massive chance in this Test match. If we do that, then the narrative changes and the series momentum changes but it's all in front of us to achieve in the next few days."

However, McCullum acknowledged that this Ashes series, seen in some quarters as the final destination in the 'Bazball' journey that began three years ago, could shape perceptions of his tenure but maintained faith in the broader plan. "We came here with high hopes and high expectations. We haven't quite executed that so far and Australia receives those key moments and hence they sit 2-0 up. It doesn't mean that we throw that plan out.

"Now, if anything, we just need to chisel away at some of the things we haven't got quite right, this is probably more attuned to our best style of cricket. Yeah, of course, the fact we're 2-0 down, we've made it harder on ourselves but that won't stop the belief that you have within the dressing room."

While the score lines in the two Tests have been emphatic, McCullum felt England had not been completely outplayed. "I don't think we've been anywhere near our best so far. What's been has been. For us now it's not a matter of fighting the war that's been, it's focusing on the one that's coming.

"The conditions here at Adelaide are going to be quite different. [We need to] just be a little more calculated when we get the opportunity to be able to put the foot on the throat."