England were beaten by Australia inside two days of the First Ashes Test and Michael Vaughan insists their batters have to get some action before the Second Test
Former England captain Michael Vaughan is adamant England need to have a game before the Second Test
Former England captain Michael Vaughan insists it would be “amateurish” if England don’t get more cricket under their belt before the Second Test after being beaten in Perth within two days of the Ashes beginning.
In the build-up to The Ashes, there had been criticism of the England squad for not ensuring ample preparation ahead of the gruelling Test series in Australia, which led to a war of words between some former players and the current squad.
But after the manner in which Australia took the lead in the five-match series, Vaughan claims several of their players have to get some more cricket under their belt with nearly a two-week gap between now and the Second Test in Brisbane.
The former skipper believes the one game England played didn’t sufficiently prepare them for the challenges they’ll face and maintains that they need to give their batters some time at the crease.
He told the BBC: “People will start to look at the preparation for the batters. I don’t have a problem with them playing one game. It’s more that they had one game on a pitch that bounces knee high. Whether they like it or not, all these conversations are going to come back to England.
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“It’s amateurish if England don’t go out and practice between now and then. What’s the harm in going out and playing with a pink ball when they’re about to play with a pink ball. They’re cricketers, I’m not silly for suggesting that by playing more cricket they’ll get better.
“England have got the tools and they’ve got the talent but it’s never easy coming to play down under. I’ll be very interested to see what happens but it’s very difficult to go 0-1 down in Australia.”
England’s batsman struggled to make scores
There is a Lions game to be played in the coming days but head coach Brendon McCullum said they will take stock and reflect on their loss in Perth before deciding whether to roll out some of their players.
Captain Ben Stokes, who bowled beautifully, believes England did what was right for them and they’re not about to throw out their plans and bemoan what’s already gone simply because of one loss – regardless of the manner.
He said: “We’ve operated in this way where we know that the preparation we put in is correct in the way it works for us. I’ve been asked this question a lot, that’s how it was done a long time ago. We prepare incredibly well and work incredibly hard every day we get the opportunity to work on our game. That’s what we’ll keep on doing we trust in our process.”