The Ashes: England's prep defended by Marcus Trescothick as Australia's Alex Carey shrugs off Stuart Broad jibe

Marcus Trescothick has defended England's limited red-ball preparation ahead of The Ashes while Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey has brushed off Stuart Broad's assessment that the hosts have their "worst team since 2010".

England will play a solitary three-day warm-up game against the England Lions from November 13 ahead of the Ashes opener at Optus Stadium in Perth from November 21.

That is in stark contrast to the last time the tourists triumphed in Australia in 2010/11 when they took on state sides Western Australia and South Australia as well as Australia A during a heavy build-up ahead of the drawn first Test in Brisbane.

England went on to win the second, fourth and fifth Tests of the series by an innings to secure a 3-1 victory, with Australia's sole success coming in the third fixture at the WACA.

Speaking from New Zealand ahead of England's second ODI against the Black Caps in Hamilton on Wednesday (1am start UK time), assistant coach Trescothick said: "It's not like [the players] have had three months without playing any cricket.

"It's only a month since the last county game finished. They are prepping here [in New Zealand], all getting into it, and we have been good at adapting to different conditions in different places in recent years.

"It's not necessarily about having five games as that has an impact later in the series.

"If you take that time and add that to the trip and you are there for months, that is really tricky with the amount of cricket these guys play these days.

"It about getting that preparation right and getting the guys together has worked well before - keeping it short, sharp and intense and working in that fashion."