Former England skipper Michael Vaughan lambasted the England batters for throwing away the advantage of scoring big runs in the 1st innings after being well-settled in the middle. The England top-order batters gave their wickets away after playing the initial tough overs against the Australian attack.
Ben Stokes and Co. started day 2 well picking up wickets at the regular interval to restrict the Australian team to 416 runs in the 1st innings. England Openers positively started their innings as they attacked the Baggy Greens pacers to score runs at a quick pace, but found their way out from 188-1 at one stage to 278-4 at the end of day 2.
Speaking to the BBC Test Match Special, Michael Vaughan feels that England’s batters played sensibly for the first wicket as they played with great intent, playing some cricketing shots before 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 at Lord’s.
“For the first 182 runs, I saw an England side that went out to bat and plays with great entertainment because they played proper cricket strokes, What came after that for the next hour or so was absolute stupidity”.
“That is not entertaining, I’m sorry, that is stupid Test match cricket and Australia will be delighted with that method because when the ball is not swinging over the next few weeks, guess what they are going to do,” Michael Vaughan said.
With Australian bowlers struggled to stop the England batters as they conceded runs at an economy rate of 5 runs an over. 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, Harry Brook and Ben Stokes will look to rebuild on the third day to reduce the lead with Jonny Bairstow being only pure batter left in the batting for England side.
Zak Crawley Gets To 48 And Then Just Gifts An Easy Wicket – Michael Vaughan
Michael Vaughan slams England opener Zak Crawley for gifting the wicket after being well settled in the middle, as he stepped down to take on Nathan Lyon, where brilliant stumping by Alex Carey took his wicket and the commentator feels that this problem with England side for not keeping up the momentum, as they no need for taking on the bowlers at that point.
“Zak Crawley has just done what Zak Crawley does. Plays nicely, plays beautifully, and you think come on, it’s your day. He gets to 48 and then just gifts an easy wicket. That’s the problem with this England side …. they don’t realize when they’re on top. They just carry on with this method. There was no need for that dismissal,” Michael Vaughan added.
Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, and Ben Duckett played some rash shots to get dismissed after being well set in the 1st innings, as they missed out on the opportunities to score big runs for the team. On the other hand, Australian bowlers implemented short ball tactics against England to stop the run flow and to create some opportunities to outfox the English batters.