Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes it would be “amateurish” if England fail to secure additional cricket practice before the Second Test following their devastating defeat in Perth within just two days of the Ashes commencing. Prior to the series getting underway, there had been sharp criticism levelled at England’s squad for failing to ensure adequate preparation ahead of the demanding Test series in Australia, sparking heated exchanges between former players and the current team.
However, following Australia’s commanding performance to seize the initiative in the five-match series, Vaughan argues that several England players must quickly gain more match experience during the nearly two-week interval before the Second Test in Brisbane.
The former captain claims that England’s solitary warm-up match failed to adequately prepare them for the challenges ahead and insists they must afford their batsmen crucial time in the middle, taking emergency action to get them up to speed.
Speaking to the BBC, he said: “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.
“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.”
A Lions fixture awaits in the forthcoming days, though manager Brendon McCullum indicated the squad will assess and contemplate their Perth defeat before determining whether to deploy any of their personnel.
Skipper Ben Stokes, who delivered an exceptional bowling performance, maintains that England executed their strategy correctly and refuses to abandon their approach or lament past events simply due to a single defeat, irrespective of how it unfolded.
He declared: “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.”