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Seated just outside his birthplace of Manchester, Michael Vaughan reflects on the city’s motto, “Concilio Et Labore”—meaning “by wisdom and effort”—as a fitting philosophy for England’s cricket team. Following a difficult Ashes series, Vaughan urges the team to embrace this mindset to mend the fractures within English cricket.
Vaughan is in town to promote the Barclays Knight-Stokes Cup, a state school competition he initiated, which boasts participation from over 1,100 teams. Its grand finale will unfold at the esteemed Lord’s Cricket Ground this summer. As a vocal critic of England’s recent struggles in Australia, Vaughan is passionate about the need for a shift in attitude, despite the decision to maintain the current team lineup.
He emphasizes the necessity for wiser selection processes, advocating for the inclusion of high-performing players over the usual choices. Additionally, Vaughan calls for more meticulous preparation under Brendon McCullum’s management, suggesting players be allowed to bring their personal coaches to better prepare for Test matches.
Reflecting on the past, Vaughan notes how James Anderson, once sidelined with 704 Test wickets to his name, remains a strong contender for the upcoming series against Australia. Vaughan argues that Anderson, who has seamlessly transitioned to a captaincy role at Lancashire, is in top form, having already claimed 14 wickets at an impressive average this season.
“I believe he’s currently the best bowler,” Vaughan shares with Daily Mail Sport. Having captained Anderson in 21 of his 188 Test matches, Vaughan insists, “We should never dismiss anyone too soon.”
Michael Vaughan (right) is backing Jimmy Anderson (left) to make an Ashes return at the age of 45 next summer
Anderson took 76 wickets in 21 Tests under Vaughan’s leadership from 2003-08 – only Steve Harmison (133), Matthew Hoggard (123) and Andrew Flintoff (119) took more under Vaughan
Vaughan is promoting his brainchild state school competition, the Barclays Knight-Stokes Cup, featuring more than 1,100 teams and a final played at Lord’s, alongside Heather Knight
‘I’m not just saying it for a headline, but because England have to win that 2027 Ashes series. Just say that they have three injuries and Jimmy’s still bowling 83-84mph. Are you telling me you wouldn’t throw him in? Of course you would.
‘Last winter, when Australia needed to win a game of cricket, they picked Michael Neser, and look what he did (15 wickets in three Tests at under 20). I know he’s 36 and he’s a lot younger in terms of age, but I’d say Neser’s body’s probably worse than Jimmy’s.’
In the short term, despite the post-Ashes review demanding an onus on County Championship form when it comes to selection for the first home Test of the year against New Zealand on June 4, he believes there is only one position up for grabs in a team he says possesses an abundance of talent but lacks direction.
And that position belongs to Zak Crawley, who has begun the summer with scores of 9, 20, 26 and 5 for Kent in Division Two.
‘He’s not had a flying start to the season,’ says Vaughan. ‘If he’d have come out and gone 100, 100, 100, yeah, you’d have had another look, but I think it’s now time to move on. If you want to be the best team in the world, your opening batter is not going to average 31 with five hundreds in 64 games. So, I think England have to look beyond that now.
‘What’s interesting to me is that players that have been mentioned before the start of this season as possible Test picks – Haseeb Hameed, Dom Sibley, James Coles at Sussex – have not knocked the door down. Yes, they might have had a little bit of bad fortune, but what I look for when players get touted for England is whether they then deliver for their county, because fundamentally you’re under a bit more pressure when the eyeballs are on you.
‘There’s still a few weeks to go, but you’ve got a four-horse race among the openers and I’m saying to Ben McKinney now, after his double hundred for Durham: Your nose is in front. He looks a talent. I like the way that he plays.
‘Asa Tribe, a player that interests me with the way that he gets over to the off-side and plays the safe game, working the ball to leg, is probably just behind him, then Hameed and Sibley a fair way back, but I can’t see any other opportunities unless they look for an English-style seamer like an Ollie Robinson or Sam Cook.’
Vaughan believes Zak Crawley’s place is the only one under threat in this England team – and was not helped by a run of low scores to start the season with Kent
Durham’s Ben McKinney is the latest candidate to replace Crawley – and he responded by smashing a brilliant 244 against Gloucestershire last week
Sam Cook (left) or Ollie Robinson could come into the England team to offer an ‘English-style’ seam option
Any overhaul, Vaughan argues, in a week that the ECB oddly created more noise about last winter – releasing an in-house interview in which captain Ben Stokes insisted he is ’95 per cent aligned’ with McCullum despite differences of opinion on tactical approach surfacing Down Under – should be focused on preparation, not personnel.
‘Fundamentally, they’ve got to get away from this ‘vibe’ coaching – I don’t see any sporting team get better by just turning up and having a vibe,’ Vaughan continues. ‘England hate people for saying that because they say that they do a lot of work, but they don’t do the same amount of work as some of the other sporting teams that I’ve witnessed.
‘The talent is there but talent can only get you to so far in any sport, so they need a little bit more dedication to really improve the players technically. Mentally, they’ve got to accept that when the pressure’s been on in the last few years of this regime, they haven’t done it. India at The Oval last year – failed. Australia in the winter – failed. World Cups to date – failed.
‘Because success for this England group should be winning. They’ve reached the last five semi-finals at Twenty20 World Cup. So, this coaching group has done no better than any other coaching group. You’ve got to have aspirations to be the best in the world and from what I’ve seen, you can’t say that the organisation of the team has been what you would say is high performance.
‘These past 22 years represent probably the most successful period in history for English men’s cricket. We’ve been used to winning Ashes series. We’ve been used to winning World Cups.
‘This regime came in on the back of an environment that was created through Covid. What Joe Root had to deal with as captain was tough, so when they first came to power, they were brilliant in freeing up the players.
‘Where leadership is clever is realising where you have to change. You look at all the great football managers, they change – either personnel, the way that they play, or someone in their backroom staff to bring in a little bit of new energy.
‘If I was playing the game now, I would have my own dedicated batting coach with me, like a golfer turning up to the Ryder Cup. And on a Tuesday or a Wednesday before the Test match starts, I’d want my coach there. Rob Key (the ECB’s director of men’s cricket) would be open to that, I think.
‘‘These past 22 years represent probably the most successful period in history for English men’s cricket. We’ve been used to winning Ashes series’
‘Fundamentally, they’ve got to get away from this ‘vibe’ coaching – I don’t see any sporting team get better by just turning up and having a vibe’
‘I don’t see Jamie Smith (left) getting down and dirty every morning for 30 minutes, catching balls. But I saw Australia’s Alex Carey (right) do that’
‘I would want my players in the best state of mind, technically and mentally, for the Thursday start and if that meant bringing in Alec Stewart to work with Jamie Smith, or Bruce French or Jack Russell, whoever, so be it.
‘Social media clips aren’t everything, but I see so many clips from counties of coaches drilling the players and there’s so much more going on. Again, they won’t like me for saying it, but when I watch England on a morning, I don’t see any of that. I don’t see Jamie Smith getting down and dirty every morning for 30 minutes, catching balls. But I saw Australia’s Alex Carey do that.
‘If a player wants to bat all day on a Tuesday, do you know what? Let that player bat all day on a Tuesday. As England coach, that’s what you’re there to provide.’
Over a thousand teams have signed up for the chance to play at Lord’s as stars encourage greater access to cricket in state schools. Find out more here.