Former England captain Michael Vaughan has said that Ben Stokes’ team should be afraid of the Ashes results if England do not improve the gap between the second and third Ashes Tests. He also warned them that if they did not improve their conduct they would be defamed.
England have traveled to Australia for a five-match Ashes series. Former England captain Michael Vaughan had claimed that this is Australia’s weakest team and without their captain Pat Cummins, England may have the upper hand in Perth and Brisbane.
But Australia defeated England in both the matches and Mitchell Starc was named player of the match both times. The Ben Stokes-led side are already 2-0 down and Vaughan has warned them about a whitewash.
Former England captain warns England about bad situation in Ashes
Former England captain Michael Vaughan was concerned about the state of the English cricket team and believed that if England could not work together then they could be eliminated in the series by Australia.
Michael Vaughan said on the BBC, “I hate to say it. If England aren’t careful, it could be 5–0. I haven’t seen enough of England yet to win a game. They’re a good group of players, and it’s possible. If they don’t improve quickly, it could get much worse before it gets better.”
Despite batting well in the first innings of the pink ball Test, the hosts were shocked in the second innings and took a huge lead courtesy of Mitchell Starc’s wide-handed batsman. The England team faltered in the second innings and were given a target of 65 runs, which was easily achieved.
Michael Vaughan said, “England will have to make changes in Adelaide.”
The former England captain criticized the English batting unit as they have consistently failed at numbers. 3 batting position. He further said that they need to think about a possible replacement for Ollie Pope.
“England have to make changes in Adelaide. They have to seriously consider Ollie Pope’s situation. He has played a lot of games against Australia. There is a mental toll on Pope against Australia. Would you bring in Jacob Bethell?”
Michael Vaughan said, “Can Stokes bat at number three and Jack at number six? It’s a big risk to bring Bethel into this series when the team is 2-0 down, and he hasn’t scored a first-class century, yet you expect him to perform against this Australia team with Cummins and Lyon back in the side.”
How many times have England finished 5-0 in the Ashes?
If England loses the series 5-0, it will not be the first time that they have lost the series with a clean sweep. Only three times has a team been eliminated from the Ashes after losing.
Australia has whitewashed England three times 1920–21, 2006–07 and 2013–14, while Australia has never lost an Ashes series. Australia is ranked No. 1 in the WTC points table so far and has won all its 5 matches.
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