"It's the nature of the schedule" - Pat Cummins defends the absence of practice matches ahead of WTC final and Ashes

Australian Test captain Pat Cummins has defended the decision of not playing warm-up games ahead of a gruelling summer in England. The 30-year-old asserted that Australia's experienced squad will be ready for the challenge.

Former Aussie captain Allan Border hit out at the national team a few days ago for refusing to play practice matches in England, fearing it might backfire as it did earlier this year in India. The 67-year-old opined that there is no substitute for game time.

Speaking to The Age, Cummins stated that the nature of the schedule forced them to omit practice matches but that the squad had had a good build-up in Brisbane.

"It’s the nature of the schedule. But we feel really good. We’ve had a good prep up in Brisbane for a few days," Cummins said. "It’s a pretty busy couple of months coming up and six Tests in two months is really hectic. You’d rather be fresh at the end of it than worn out. We’ve got a pretty experienced squad and have all played in England before, so we’ll be as ready as we’ll ever be."

It's worth noting that Australia played only one intra-squad practice match ahead of the 2019 Ashes series in England.

"We’re playing so much cricket these days" - David Warner echoes Pat Cummins' comments

David Warner. (Image Credits: Getty)

Opening batter David Warner backed up his captain, stating that Australia will be better prepared by facing their own bowlers in the nets.

"We’re playing so much cricket these days with so many people coming off different kinds of cricket or no cricket and getting their workloads up in their own way under supervision," he said. "I think when you’ve played a long time, another warm-up game isn’t going to get you ready. Why wouldn’t we just have a four-day session against our bowlers, and they can bowl the whole day and I can bat against the best bowlers in the world. It just makes sense."

Before the Ashes, Australia will lock horns in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against India.