- England chased down India brilliantly to take 1-0 lead in five-match series
- Ben Duckett’s 149 underlined his development as top class opening batsman
- Michael Vaughan believes England know seven of their Ashes team
Michael Vaughan believes England’s thrilling win over India in the first Test of the five-match series has helped nail on seven Ashes starters.
The former captain thinks Brendan McCullum’s men will arrive in Australia with the security of knowing the majority of their line-up.
And he compared that stability with that of the side who famously won down under back in 2010-11.
Speaking on The Overlap and Betfair’s Stick to Cricket show, Vaughan said: ‘That top seven now should be the seven who walk out in November in Perth.
‘That looks to me like a top seven, and I look at the last time England won in Australia in 2010/11, that top seven when England arrived was rock-solid.
‘It was full of experience, Strauss, Cook, Pietersen, Collingwood, Bell, Prior and it’s got a similar kind of feel, where they’re going to arrive in Australia, I hope, with a lot of experience.’
He continued: ‘I’ve had a few messages overnight from Australia and they know that this England side, and I’m not saying that they’re going to arrive as favourites, but this Australian public and supporters over there are watching this England side and going “this could be the team who can challenge Australia in their own back-yard”.
While Vaughan compared England’s current side to a former successful iteration, Phil Tufnell likened one star to a dominant former Aussie batsman.
He said: ‘There’s been a lot of chat coming out about this England side and Bazball, being ‘crash, bang, wallop’; but little Ducky (Ben Duckett) left a couple – the first two balls of the day, he left them.
‘He hasn’t left a ball in his life – he’s like a mini Matthew Hayden. What a knock that was, just peeled it off – bang, bang, bang.’
Duckett was the star of England’s second innings at Headingley, scoring 149 to lay the foundation for his team-mates to reach India’s formidable 371 target.
Vaughan added: ‘You look at Ben Duckett, and you see a player where you think back to the start of the Bazball era, that was their best decision where they brought him straight in.
‘He is the best all-format player – Travis Head is up there, Aiden Markram as well. But he faces the music at the top of the order in Tests, T20 and ODI, he’s the best.’
Sir Alastair Cook chimed in on the struggles of India’s new captain Shubman Gill ahead of the second Test at Edgbaston after he struggled up in Leeds.
The former England skipper said: ‘When you take over a team, there’s always going to be that first bit where the team has to get used to the new leader.
‘Even with Ben Stokes it took a while to get used to, he came in very clearly and said “this is how we’re going to play” and there was a really clear leadership path.
‘I think that the key indicator which shows that the India side is not quite settled is DRS, for them. It was also the panic of it, which is horrible, because you’re not used to it and no one is used to him.
‘Everyone was trying to help him, they’re not trying to be horrible; but there’s eight different voices and he’s just like “I do not know what to do”.
The second Test begins on Wednesday, July 6, with England looking to take a commanding 2-0 lead.
