New Delhi: Former England captain Michael Vaughan lashed out at Ollie Pope & Co. after their 8-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka in the third and final Test of the three-match series between the two sides at the Kennington Oval in London on Monday. England missed out on a chance to bag a 3-0 clean sweep as they slumped to a shock defeat after winning their first two matches in a row.
In his column for The Telegraph, Vaughan slammed England for ‘disrespecting’ Test cricket by going overboard with ‘Bazball’ and using ultra-aggressive tactics against the visitors. England’s Bazball was left exposed as their batters faltered twice in the first and the second innings. The hosts’ attacking fielding tactics also backfired as the Sri Lankan batters made merry.
“I felt that they disrespected Test cricket and disrespected Sri Lanka in the third Test by being over-aggressive with both the bat and in their field placings. England have made a habit of becoming a bit complacent after a good period—I think of the start of the Ashes or earlier this year in Rajkot—and I hope it serves as a wake-up call for the tougher Tests that lie in wait in 2025. There is no way they will get away with playing like this against India or Australia,” Vaughan wrote in a column for The Telegraph.
After a terrific century from Pope, England ended Day 1 on 221/3 in the 3rd Test and were in a strong position to post a big total on the board. However, their stubbornness to continue with their attacking approach with the bat ended up costing them as the hosts lost 7 wickets inside 104 runs to get bundled out for 325 runs.
In their second innings, England failed to capitalise on their lead of 62 runs as they could only manage 156 runs on the board in their second innings. Sri Lanka comfortably chased down the target of 219 runs in their second innings to wrap up a famous victory, their only 4th Test win on English soil. Bashing England over their tactics, Vaughan said England were ‘flimsy and cocky’ throughout the game.
“For me, the intensity and concentration in the big moments were missing this week. It was all a bit flimsy, cocky even. They took the mickey out of the game. The answer in Test cricket’s hottest moments cannot always be attack, attack, attack,” added the former England captain.
England fail to end summer unbeaten
England were on an unbeaten streak of five matches and had the chance to end the summer without suffering a defeat. However, Sri Lanka ended their dream run in the absence of regular captain Ben Stokes, who was replaced by Pope as stand-in skipper in the Oval Test. England still managed to claim the series 2-1 to end the summer on a high. However, Sri Lanka managed to surpass them on the WTC points table with their victory.
Former England captian Michael Vaughan slammed Ollie Pope’s men for ‘disrespecting’ Test cricket with their ultra-aggresisve tactics in their 8-wicket defeat in the 3rd Test against Sri Lanka at the Oval. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
