Former England star 'terrified' of what awaits Stokes and Co. in India without warm-up games: 'That’s inexcusable'

England will be touring India for the first time since they radically changed their approach to Test cricket under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.

India host England in a five-match Test series starting on January 25. It will be England's first Test tour of India since their radical change in approach to the format under captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum. While England took the world by storm in the initial series in which they showcased what has since come to be called 'Bazball', they failed to take the Ashes for the first time since 2015, being held to a 2-2 draw at home by Australia.

England have been preparing for the series with an 11-day training camp in Abu Dhabi and will not play any warm-up matches in India before the first Test. (Reuters)

It meant that they ended 2023 with just one Test series win, which came in a one-off Test against Ireland. England now tour India for their first Test series in 2024 but former batter Mark Butcher has brought their preparation. England have been preparing for the series with an 11-day training camp in Abu Dhabi and will not play any warm-up matches in India before the first Test. They will arrive in Hyderabad three days before the start of the first match.

“Frankly I’d be a little bit terrified if I was playing. Most of the guys haven’t played any long form cricket since July. Very few of the squad were involved a great deal in the rundown of the County Championship which finished at the back end of September. We’re now three months down the road with nobody having had any sort of middle practice at all," said Butcher on the Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast. "I would be a little bit concerned about not having felt that competition, being out in the middle and taking guard on something where the runs you make and your wicket are important," he said.

Butcher pointed out that England suffered for the lack of match practice against Australia. They will now be facing India in a Test series, widely regarded as one of the most difficult challenges in the sport. England have beaten India in India just once in this century, having stunned them in the 2012/13 series. They lost the last two series 4-0 and 3-1.

"They did a similar thing leading into the Ashes series at home during the course of this summer and were 2-0 down before they got going. You certainly couldn’t say for sure that this England side with a lack of experience, or a lack of hot shot spin bowling options in particular, would be in a position to do anything like they did against Australia, coming back from 2-0 down, against this India team who simply do not lose series at home.

“The only thing with it is, it puts you under an enormous amount of pressure should it go badly. People have been delighted with Bazball, unbelievably happy with the way England have played under Ben Stokes and it’s been nothing but good vibes and good stories really, barring the odd selection issue from time to time. Everybody believes going to India that you’re unlikely to win a five-Test match series in India right? But what people will be less likely to be gentle about is if you go there without having done the requisite getting ready for it and then get battered. That’s kind of inexcusable," he said.