In the minutes after Travis Head completed his demolition of England in the first Ashes Test, Ben Stokes sidled up to Jonathan Agnew for a post-match interview with the BBC.

Agnew, the former England pace bowler who has been integral to the Test Match Special radio broadcast since 1991, interviewed Stokes on the boundary’s edge in the minutes after the game ended, and pressed on the issue of preparation.

Past v present: Michael Vaughan, Ben Stokes and Ian Botham.Credit: Getty Images/Michael Howard

After Stokes’ initial answer rolled through phrases like “we believe and we trust in our process”, “hand on heart” and “this is the best way”, Agnew followed up.

“I’ve just answered that question, Aggers,” came the curt reply.

Both Agnew and the England camp have denied there was anything spikier to the incident than a broadcaster asking tough questions and a captain holding his ground. But there was no denial that England’s players have been irritated by what they see as a lack of support from their predecessors on a tough tour.

Agnew echoed many of the sentiments felt and expressed by a host of former England players and captains over numerous weeks leading into the series. The likes of Sir Ian Botham, Sir Alastair Cook, Michael Vaughan and Nasser Hussain had all said similar things.

In their view, England had not prepared adequately with a solitary warm-up match at Lilac Hill. They needed to evolve into a smarter version of the freewheeling........

© The Sydney Morning Herald