Legendary England cricketers didn't mince their words and lambasted Ben Stokes & Co. for their utter 'worthless' display with the ball on Day 1 of the second Ashes Test match against Australia on June 28 (Thursday). When Stokes won the toss and made a no-brainer decision to bowl first, it appeared as if the Three Lions would run riot with the brand new Dukes ball on a lush green pitch in overcast conditions, in other words, a bowlers paradise. What transpired was completely opposite to the general expectation and the Baggy Greens' batters took the game away from England in just the opening day of the Test match.
On the back of Steve Smith's unbeaten knock of 85 runs, Australia ended Day 1 with a score of 339/5 on the board. David Warner (66 runs off 88 balls) scored a handsome half-century as well while Travis Head's counter-attacking knock of 77 runs off 73 balls poured more misery on England. If it wasn't for Joe Root's double strike in an over, the Thre Lions would have been blown away on just the first day of the Lord's Test.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan lashed out at Ben Stokes & Co. for making bold statements off-field and donning a casual approach on-field. Vaughan deemed England's performance 'utter dross' and underlined that Australia, who have not won an Ashes series in England in around two decades, are likely to reign on the Three Lions' parade.
"Australia's day, England not sharp enough. England have got this approach to Test cricket that is quite casual, they talk the talk, the message after Edgbaston was very positive. Young players coming out with bold statements, the casual approach came out today in the middle," Vaughan was quoted as saying on Sky Cricket.
"You get David Warner out and Steve Smith walks out and within 15 balls, he's got 25 because England bowled utter dross.
"England know they are up against an Australian side that have never won in English conditions. They've got the bit between their teeth, they are so focused. The teams Glenn McGrath played in used to win here all the time, but a lot of real high-class cricketers have never won here.
"This England side better start smelling the roses because this Australia side aren't going away," Vaughan added.
Andrew Strauss, another former England captain, in his assessment, shed light on Stokes' lackluster approach and the English bowlers' overdependence on the pitch as the main reasons behind Australia surging ahead on Wednesday.
"Usually Stokes is very proactive, trying different things, prising the batsmen out. I suppose his attitude today was 'let the pitch do it for us," Strauss was quoted as saying on Sky Cricket.
"There was enough for that to be a sensible tactic. The problem was England's bowlers expected it to happen and perhaps didn't put enough into it," he added.
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