Michael Vaughan has laid into England following their “embarrassing” defeat to Australia in the Ashes. England now have nothing but pride to play for in Sydney and Hobart
England was beaten by an innings and 14 runs in the third Test as Australia took an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series to retain the urn.
Michael Vaughan: England Failed To Stop The Australian Juggernaut
Former captain Michael Vaughan accused England of showing a lack of focus on Test cricket in recent years, insisting that England is yet to find any kind of consistency or skill in the Ashes 2021/22 series.
Michael Vaughan said: “England – they’ve got some big problems. That was embarrassing.”
“They’re a group of players that pride themselves on competing and they’ve just not managed to find any kind of consistency or skill. They’ve not been able to manage this powerhouse of a team. The juggernaut started in Brisbane and they’ve not been able to stop the Australian juggernaut,” said Michael Vaughan.
“This Test match team for quite a while has not been good enough. They’ve not been focused enough on the Test match team, the focus has been on the white ball team and it delivered a world cup, but we’re not a good enough cricketing nation to take our eye off the ball of Test match cricket.
“We can’t just arrive and play. I would say that with the group I’m seeing and the way they’re playing, if they don’t beat England in 2023 I’d be amazed,” said Michael Vaughan.
Australia finished the job within a session on day three, with debutant Scott Boland taking a remarkable 6-7 from just four overs, Mitchell Starc picking up 3-29, and all-rounder Cameron Green taking the final wicket.
Joe Root Admits Australia Blew England Away
England captain Joe Root admitted that Australia blew England away and had simply outplayed his side throughout the series. Joe Root’s men were the fastest to surrender the Urn after they were skittled out for a meagre 68 on day 3 of the third Test to lose the match by an innings and 14 runs. England had lost the first two Tests by nine wickets and 275 runs at Brisbane and Adelaide respectively.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Joe Root said: “All you can do is try and front up to it and concentrate of putting in good performances on the field and credit to Australia, they blew us away last night and have outplayed us in this Test and in the series so far. We’ve got a lot of hard work to do to make sure we come back in the last two games.”
England batted first and was bowled out for 185 in the 1st innings. Joe Root scored 50, the highest of any other batsman. In response, Australia posted 267-10 with a 76-run knock by Marcus Harris. having an 82-run lead, England was bowled out for a miserable 68 in the 2nd innings with Joe Root again top-scoring with 28.
The visitors England was bundled out for a humiliating 68 to hand Australia the Ashes urn as apart from Joe Root (28) and Ben Stokes (11) none registered even double-digit figures.
Australian debutant pacer Scott Boland took six wickets in the second innings as Australia crushed England by an innings and 14 runs in the third Test to retain the Ashes. The Victorian pacer returned with figures of 4-1-7-6 as Australia bowled England out for 68 in the second innings to retain the Ashes with two matches to go. He returned with match figures of 7/55 to deservingly winning Man of the Match.