If the extent of your preparation starts a week out from the first Test, and is relying on the opposing board's altruism, then you damn well are to blame. There's all sorts of ways to do it -- intra-squad matches in the country, hiring external bowlers to replicate key opposition players, organising A tours, developing different decks in your own country to give domestic players experience in conditions that aren't the typical 'home' conditions of your country, hiring specialist coaches, getting guys to play overseas domestix (and that's not to mention the more admin-y things like selection, competition structures etc.) Like, think back to when Australia seemed significantly less phased by overseas conditions -- in broad terms the 'Gabba swung and seamed, Sydney turned, Adelaide was flat, Perth bounced. Melbourne was...rainy (or something). Wasn't perfect, sure, but the most experienced Test bat was far less likely to be a complete spud against spin, and the entire line-up was far less likely to completely crap itself whenever a ball moved off the straight.