Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has questioned the Ollie Pope-led team for their batting performance and field placements on Day 2 of the third Test against the visiting Sri Lanka. The 49-year-old compared England’s performance to the school team.
England finished Day 1 at 221/3 but were bowled out for 325 as they played risky shots. The stand-in captain, Ollie, scored 154 for the team.
Speaking on the Test Match Special podcast, Vaugahn asked whether the current England team would have batted similarly against arch-rivals Australia and India.
“It looked like it was the end of the term. They played reckless shots. Would they bat like that against Australia and India? They wouldn’t. They were ordinary while setting the field with no fine leg and lots of slips. It was like they were playing school cricket or worse than school kids. England haven’t been ordinary this summer and I expect them to bounce back,” he said.
Sri Lanka were 93/5 at one stage but managed to reach 211/5 at the end of the day. Kamindu Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva added an unbeaten 118 runs.
De Silva, 64 not out, and Mendis, 54 not out, batted well for the visitors.
“Don’t take things lightly”: Michael Vaughan warns England
Michael Vaughan also warned England, saying complacency could hurt them in the future. He said that England will face India and Australia next year.
“England impress me a lot with the way they play but they will have to be careful as it might hit them hard at times. They will face teams like India and Australia next year. England can’t play ordinary cricket like they did against Sri Lanka on Day 2 of the third Test.”