England must finally move away from their high-risk 'Bazball' approach and return to Test cricket basics after their dismal Ashes 2025-26 campaign, reckons former captain Michael Vaughan.
The Ben Stokes-led side arrived Down Under with a lot of expectations, but ended up conceding the urn in just 11 days -- the joint-second quickest in more than a century.
The Three Lions suffered back-to-back eight-wicket losses in Perth and Brisbane, before facing an 82-run defeat at the Adelaide Oval.
The visitors salvaged some pride with a gutsy four-wicket victory at MCG, but the Aussies bounced back to win the Ashes finale in Sydney by five wickets and clinch the series 4-1.
After the debacle, Vaughan minced no words as he said it’s time for English cricket to ditch the ultra-aggressive 'Bazball' philosophy.
"The way that England play, that 'Bazball method', the ultra-risky method with the bat in hand hasn't worked because they haven't won the big series," Vaughan said while speaking to Reuters.
"They haven't beaten India. They haven't beaten Australia. And obviously they've lost another Ashes series and they're not anywhere near a World Test Championship final.
"So it's acceptance from the management, the leadership group and the ECB that things need to change."
Moving forward, Vaughan wants England to take a leaf out of Joe Root's first-innings 160 and Jacob Bethell's composed second-innings hundred at SCG.
"That's the tempo of Test match batting, you just play the ball on merit," Vaughan stated. "They're all naturally gifted players and they're going to score runs, but the really high-risk way of playing, I'm afraid, hasn't worked."
Vaughan was also critical of England's overall preparation and attention to detail during the Australia tour.
"They need a bit more focus on the attention to detail that's required at the highest level," he said. "All the other teams - New Zealand, South Africa, India, Australia - they all seem to have more focus on attention to detail. England look like a camp that's quite loose, and that's something they have to tighten up."
Vaughan stressed that overhauling the coaching staff was not necessarily the answer, but insisted the approach could not remain the same.
"I would hope there'll be discussions after the tour to see where everyone sits," he said. "If the team want to stay together, they have to change. It's not down to everyone else to change. It's down to the leadership group to accept.
"Stubbornness is a wonderful thing in sport, but it can also be a danger if you think you're doing it right all the time. There need to be honest conversations at the ECB level about whether they can change and move forward with learnings from this trip."
Vaughan warned that if those in charge were unwilling to adapt, questions on leadership would be raised.
"I don't want to see anyone lose their positions," he said. "But if you look at English cricket over the last two or three years, we've had a really poor time. The white-ball team's gone backwards. The women's team have gone backwards. Now it's another series England haven't won.
"At the hierarchy level, they've got to start looking at what's actually happening within the English game."
Vaughan wants England to prioritise technically sound batters as a generational shift approaches. With Root now 35 and Stokes 34, he feels balance will be key.
"They're going to need more Joe-style players than Harry Brooks," Vaughan said. "Harry Brook's a freak - he plays the game in a way not many can. My concern is that English cricket has been looking for more Harrys and not enough Joes. They've got to find a few more Joes. Proper players."
