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Alastair Cook questions England's tactics ahead of second Test match

image-l721dtwwSouth Africa thrashed England in first Test (PC: Twitter)

Former England captain Alastair Cook has lashed out at England's preparation ahead of the red-ball series against South Africa. 

In the first fixture of the three-match Test series, Proteas handed a humbling defeat by an innings and 12 runs to England on Friday (19 August). 

The shattering loss has surprised the cricket fraternity, due to England's brilliant run in Summer 2022. Ahead of this series, the Three Lions secured four successive red-ball victories against strong teams like New Zealand and India. 

Cook stated no first-class matches were scheduled to prepare the players for this series. The latest round of the County Championship 2022 ended in July. 

Furthermore, most of the first team players did not take part in the four-day warm-up match against Proteas which took place less than a week before the first Test. 

"What is weird is we normally talk about the touring side running into a series with not enough match practice," said Cook. 

"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.

"That has to change. There is no excuse for it. That has to change."

Ben Stokes doesn't want to give an excuse for lack of first-class cricket

image-l721qw86Ben Stokes in first Test (PC: Twitter)

Following the loss in the first fixture, England red-ball skipper Ben Stokes reckoned it would have been beneficial for the players to feature in first-class cricket, but added they have played enough cricket. 

"We've all played a lot of cricket. There could be an opportunity maybe to put a first-class game in there for the lads to go off and just get out there in the field," said Stokes. 

Read more: This isn't a wake-up call or anything like that: Ben Stokes