Former England captain and commentator Michael Vaughan has made a bold prediction against Joe Root and his team for the upcoming Ashes 2021-22 in Australia this winter.
After the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) gave a “conditional approval” for the Ashes series, Vaughan has highlighted England’s recent record in Australia and their form in Test cricket lately, as he feels the tourists could lose the Ashes series 5-0 against the hosts.
Vaughan told ABC Sports, “This series could be 5-0. You’ve got to be realistic. In the last four tours of Australia, England have lost 5-0 twice and 4-1 once. Obviously, they won in 2010-11, 3-1. I think this England Test match team if they get on a roll, they keep playing well, they will be fine. But if they start badly, it’s going to be a long tour for them.”
However, he admitted that England is a competitive side, but they have been quite unpredictable with their performances of late in the longest format of the game.
The Englishman added, “It’s very hard to predict with England because you are not quite sure. They went to India on the back of a series win in Sri Lanka, won that first Test because Joe Root put a huge score on the board, and then they lost the series convincingly. They do have it in them to beat good sides, but they also have it in them to lose against anyone.”
Meanwhile, Vaughan has opined out that England doesn’t have a bowling attack for conditions that don’t offer swing and much movement like the Oval Test against India, saying it will hard hit the tourists against Australia in the upcoming five-match Test series.
He added, “If it gets to a contest like it did at the Oval against India where it was almost overseas conditions, no swing, quite difficult to get any movement out of the surface, you need a bit of pace, you need a bit of mystery and you need an outstanding spinner. England doesn’t have that in their armory.”
Vaughan signed off by saying on the impact of Jofra Archer and Ollie Robinson’s absence in Ashes, “We know with England that they are a dangerous side. They can perform to a standard that will put any opposition under pressure. I look at places particularly like Brisbane and Perth and England just don’t have the pace.”
