Former England skipper Michael Vaughan slammed the shot selection of English batter Harry Brook on the 1st session of Day 3 on Lord’s. The 24-year-old was not in a position to play the well-directed short ball by Mitchell Starc, as played tennis style forehand shot to gift his wicket to the Australian in the crucial moment of the game.
Harry Brook batted well on the last session of Day 2 after the team collapses from 188-1 to 222-4 alongside Ben Stokes but failed to continue his form on Day 3 as he fell to the Short ball tactics implemented by Pat Cummins-led attack on the second test.
Speaking on the BBC Test Match Special, Michael Vaughan described Harry Brook‘s shot against Starc as a shocking one, as England were losing their way in the middle after a blistering start to their 1st innings and added that the pitch had a bit of help for the Australian which helped them to clean the tail in a quick time.
“Shocking shot, England clearly like losing. Yesterday they gifted Australia three wickets. They arrive on day 3, the pitch is doing a bit more. To see the wicket and Australia now know they are bowling to the tail,” Michael Vaughan said.
England players Ollie Pope played a rash shot to get dismissed followed by which England lost two quick wickets of Ben Duckett and Joe Root in the middle failing to utilize the opportunity to score big runs on the conditions that favoured the batters on Day 2. Ben Stokes, Harry Brook and Jonny Bairstow failed on Day 3 to help Australia take the lead of 91 runs in the 1st innings.
What Came Next Was Pure Stupidity – Michael Vaughan
Michael Vaughan feels that England’s batters played sensibly for the first wicket as they played with great intent, playing some cricketing shots. With Australian bowlers struggled to stop the England batters as they conceded runs at an economy rate of 5 runs an over and added that what came after that was stupid batting by the English batter.
“For the first 188 runs, England played good cricket with proper shots, Australian bowlers got no help as the ball was not doing anything, so they resorted to short balls. What came next was pure stupidity,” Michael Vaughan added.
The England batters looked ambitious to take on bowlers on every ball which resulted in the fall of wickets towards the end of the second day of play, which shifted the momentum in the favour of the Australian side on the second test in the Ashes series.