England skipper Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum have become one of the most robust duos in international cricket; however, after the recent Ashes humiliation, the Sydney Test, which marks the end of the series, will be their final opportunity to sustain the belief in their philosophy and Bazball.
England finally won the fourth Ashes Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, after having lost three straight games in the Ashes series in the Australian summer. Having lost the games, England had already lost the Ashes trophy to Australia, but could at least save their honour in the series and make England fans believe in the Ben Stokes-Brendon McCullum duo.
“I think it’s a massive game for England [in Sydney]…it was a complete lottery in Melbourne” – Michael Vaughan
According to former English captain Michael Vaughan, the Sydney Test is of immense importance since the MCG win felt more like a lottery than giving a true feeling of Test cricket. He believed that team management needs to win a full five-day hard-fought contest to show their progress.
“I think it’s a massive game for England [in Sydney]. It’s nice to win a game of cricket, but let’s be honest, it was a complete lottery in Melbourne. It wasn’t a proper game of Test match cricket. For the future and for this management in particular, they need to win a strong game of cricket here … that’s not a two-dayer,” Vaughan said, as quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald.
England broke their 5000-day losing streak in Australia since 2011. Under Brendon McCullum’s reign as the coach of England, the team has managed to win 25 matches and has lost 17 out of their last 45 Tests.
“For this management to carry on, the likes of Ben Stokes and Baz,” Vaughan drops massive advice
Vaughan further continued stressing the fact that the Sydney Test could come in handy for England. Considering the low patch of form for England, the Melbourne Test was a boost of confidence, and now a win at the SCG would reinforce belief in the England captain and coach.
“For this management to carry on, the likes of Ben Stokes and Baz – I’m pretty sure they will carry on – but I think they need a good week for that to be absolutely rock solid. There’s a huge appetite within the group to keep [McCullum] on. But fundamentally, if they get pummelled in Sydney, there needs to be some honest conversations,” Vaughan added.
Michael Vaughan clarifies that maturity and honesty are key to England’s development
The former England skipper has dropped some valuable insights for the English skipper. He has called for some self-reflection from the current England squad rather than blaming circumstances and unforeseen events.
“I think chopping and changing is not necessarily the right thing for English cricket. Whatever happens at the end of this tour, they’ve got to accept that they got a lot of things wrong.
“If they’re going to be so stubborn as to think that they were a bit unlucky, or things didn’t quite go the way they wanted … well, we have a problem going forward,” said Vaughan.
According to the former England captain, the key points are maturity and an honest assessment of the situation for the current management.
“The key is maturity, and that’s the one thing that I think this team can be a lot better at, in terms of the way they play and talk. If they can accept that, I have no problem with the management staying the same,” Vaughan added.
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