Concerned about England's deteriorating performance in the one-dayers
after a 0-5 whitewash in India, former captain Michael Vaughan said if
Alastair Cook's men want to be the best team in ODIs, they have to play
consistently on slow and turning pitches.
 "It is always harder to play away from home but England have to lose their short-sighted vision of playing on green wickets in this country," said Vaughan. © Getty Images |
"It is always harder to play away from home but England have to lose
their short-sighted vision of playing on green wickets in this country,"
said Vaughan.
"Look at results this year. Away from home we have lost 6-1 to
Australia, been beaten by Bangladesh and Ireland during the World Cup,
and now lost 5-0 in India. Our overall result against Sri Lanka and
India in the summer was 6-2, but the scores only tell a certain story.
"They perhaps wanted Alastair Cook to win a few games as a young
captain but I am sorry, if you want to be the best team in one-day
cricket then you have to play on slow, turning pitches consistently,"
the former skipper wrote in his column in 'The Daily Telegraph'.
Describing how England fared against Sri Lanka on green pitches as
compared to the spinning tracks in India, Vaughan explained: "Last
summer we played Sri Lanka on the greenest Oval pitch I have ever seen
and won comfortably. England then played at Headingley on a flat wicket
that took a bit of spin and lost. They were not happy and went berserk
at the groundsman.
"What happened next? At Trent Bridge, Sri Lanka were rolled over on
an absolute classic English green top. Result? England won by 10
wickets."
The 36-year-old said England are always certain to win when they play on green-tops.
"You can pick any one of England's last ten 50-over teams and, on a
green top, they would win. That is going back 14 or 15 years.
"But when it is flat, bowlers are put under pressure and batters have
to rotate the strike in the middle overs, and clear ropes at the end of
the innings, or you don't win many games of cricket," he said.
Despite agreeing that the current English side is one of the all time
best, Vaughan said they have not done things right as far as one-dayers
are concerned.
"I have been saying this for ages. It is not that we have a group of
players who are not good enough. This is the best generation we have had
in terms of skill, coaching and preparation.
"They have got everything and as much as they deserve a huge amount
of credit for the way they have played for the last two years in Test
cricket, they have to be honest and accept they have got things wrong in
one-day cricket," he said.
The former player also said that the English batsmen need to learn better stroke selection.
"Strategy in one-day cricket is shaped by the World Cup cycle. The
next tournament, in 2015, will be in Australia where the pitches are
flat and the ball doesn't swing.
"You need power to manoeuvre the ball into the gaps, play spin and
have the ability to post scores of 300. There will not be any green
pitches and it will be boiling hot as well. Batsmen have to learn better
stroke selection," he insisted.
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