\ufeff\u2018THERE\u2019S A FEW RUMBLINGS\u2019: VAUGHAN\u2019S SURPRISE CLAIM<\/p>\n
Former England skipper Michael Vaughan raised eyebrows last week when words spread that, while speaking at a luncheon in Sydney, he alleged that the Australian public do not love the current men\u2019s Test team.<\/p>\n
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It was a claim Vaughan was queried on by Fox Cricket colleague Mark Howard when he joined a panel of Howard, Adam Gilchrist and Mark Waugh to preview the Ashes ahead of the final T20 international between Australia and India at the Gabba on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
Vaughan admitted that he had said that, and stuck by his words, saying \u201cI\u2019m not 100 per cent sure they do love this Australian team\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they\u2019re obviously going to support the Aussie team, but I think there\u2019s a few rumblings,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
There was discontent among the Australian public when Pat Cummins\u2019 side dropped the first Test against India last summer, but winning the series 3-1 alleviated such concerns.<\/p>\n
Many Australian cricket fans are worried about the ageing demographic of the current team, with 26-year-old Cameron Green the sole member of the 15-player Ashes squad under the age of 30.<\/p>\n
Can Poms’ danger men fire in Australia? | 04:17<\/p>\n
Vaughan believes such experience will bring success for the hosts, however, just as it did in the 2006\/07 whitewash when Michael Clarke was the only player in their 20s in the dominant Australia side.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis England side have got a great chance,\u201d Vaughan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re a very dangerous side. They\u2019ve got some players that can cause some damage out here.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still have Australia as clear favourites because of the experience. I\u2019ll give you a few numbers.<\/p>\n
Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports cricket launch at Fed Square, Melbourne. Michael Vaughan. Picture: Jake NowakowskiSource: News Corp Australia\u201cEngland have got one player in their top seven that\u2019s got one hundred here, and that\u2019s Ben Stokes.<\/p>\n
\u201cEngland have got 43 wickets in their attack in Australian conditions. Ben Stokes 19, Mark Wood with 17, Joe Root with seven wickets.<\/p>\n
\u201cAustralia have got over 700 wickets in their own conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s without Pat Cummins in Perth, and they\u2019ve got near on 50 hundreds in these conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, when people say England have got a 50\/50 chance, that\u2019s not right.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have a chance, but everything\u2019s going to have go extremely well for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Will Root finally ton up in Australia? | 02:16<\/p>\n
\u2018GENERATIONAL PLAYER\u2019: EX-AUSSIE SKIPPER GOES INTO BAT FOR FORMER TEAMMATE<\/p>\n
Cameron Green is a \u201cgenerational player\u201d who should play in the first Ashes Test ahead of Beau Webster, according to former Australian captain Tim Paine. <\/p>\n
Both all-rounders have been picked in the 15-man squad for the first clash against England, which begins in Perth next Friday, with Green\u2019s capacity to bowl set to determine the final Australian XI. <\/p>\n
Green has slowly built up his bowling since major back surgery in 2024 and it\u2019s expected he\u2019ll bowl the required overs in the Sheffield Shield game that begins on Tuesday to tick the boxes needed to bowl against England. <\/p>\n
Webster was out for just 13 against South Australia in Monday, having made scores of 11 and six in his first Sheffield Shield outing for the season against Victoria last week after overcoming an ankle issue.<\/p>\n
Picking Green could mean Webster, the incumbent No.6 who has played all seven Tests since the final match against India last summer, could lose his spot. <\/p>\n
But Paine, a former Tasmanian teammate of Webster, known as \u201cSlug\u201d, said at his best Green was the better player and should get the nod despite how tough it would appear on Webster. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t find it staggering and I don\u2019t think anyone should find it staggering,\u201d Paine said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI try to select teams and coach teams optimistically and say right, \u2018If this guy\u2019s playing at his absolute best, what does that look like?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cI think if you were completely honest, and we love the big Slug (Webster), but if you\u2019re picking between him and Cameron Green as the all-rounder if they\u2019re both fit, I think right now you\u2019re still going with Cameron Green.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cameron Green of Western Australia looks on while warming up before start of play during Day 3 of the Sheffield Shield match between Western Australia and South Australia at the WACA, on October 30, 2025, in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Paine said Webster had shown his capacity to play at Test level but was the second choice all-rounder behind Green. <\/p>\n
\u201cSlug has come from probably the third or fourth all-rounder in Australia to putting pressure on Cam Green for his spot, so that\u2019s an amazing amount of work that he\u2019s done in 18 months to close that gap and to have that conversation now,\u201d he told SEN. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if Cameron Green doesn\u2019t perform, there\u2019s a guy ready to step in to that place.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Cameron Green, we know he\u2019s potentially a generational player, he can change the make-up of your team, but he\u2019s got to go out and perform now if that\u2019s the way they go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Webster has made 381 runs, including four half-centuries, and taken eight wickets since his Test debut at the SCG in January. <\/p>\n
Paine said Green was a \u201cserious player\u201d but conceded it would be \u201cdifficult\u201d to leave Webster out. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe (Green) is still young and he\u2019s still getting better, and that\u2019s not to say that Slug isn\u2019t,\u201d Paine said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut again, I think Slug, you can\u2019t speak highly enough of him the way he\u2019s handled the last 12 to 18 months, and even before that, to get himself in his position. He\u2019s played superbly for Tasmania for a long period of time now, and he deserves to be where he is at. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got a guy in front of him at the moment that\u2019s a serious player. But it\u2019s a great position for Australia to be in that if Cam Green can\u2019t bowl, then we\u2019ve got Beau Webster to come in and do a good job.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s averaged 35 with the bat and 23 with the ball in the opportunities that he\u2019s been given, so it makes it a difficult decision to leave him out of any team.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u2018INVITED THE STORM\u2019: CHAPPELL TAKES AIM AT SELECTORS<\/p>\n