'Everything that's happened just does not surprise me': Vaughan tears down on England after ‘horrendous’ loss
England were handed a hefty 9-wicket loss by Australia at The Gabba in Brisbane and former skipper Michael Vaughan did not hold his words back while criticizing the team.
Joe Root's England got off to the worst possible start in the 2021-22 Ashes series against Australia as they slumped to a nine-wicket loss in the first Test at the Gabba. Former England skipper Michael Vaughan, while analyzing the team's performance, criticized the side with stern words and opined that their show did not surprise him.
Speaking to foxsports.com.au, Vaughan remarked that he is used to seeing "fundamental" issues plague the side.
"I thought that might happen. It happens a lot to this England side where you get a load of hope and, before you know it, you're done and dusted quite quickly. Everything that's happened this week just does not surprise me," commented Vaughan.
He then added:
"You kind of have hope that things can be different and they'll get it right because they've got so much talent in the team, but fundamentally against the best teams, this is what England do. If you look at it over the past few years, when they've played the better teams – Australia, India, New Zealand; it happened in the summer that we've just had, it happened against Australia in 2019 – this England side, they have horrendous sessions."
The visitors got it wrong even before a single ball was bowled as Root decided to bat first on a green top. Their decision back-fired as the Aussies bundled them out for 147. In response, Travis Head's 152 and half-centuries from Marnus Labuschagne (74) and David Warner (94) took their side to 425.
In the second innings, England could only manage to score 297, despite Joe Root and Dawid Malan returning with scores of 89 and 82, respectively. Eventually, the hosts chased down their tiny target of 20 in 5.1 overs.