'It's silly that we don’t give our players one or two games facing the red-ball to prepare for a Test series' - Michael Vaughan slams England's Test schedule

The five-match Test series between England and India will be the first series for both these sides in the second cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC). And surely, both sides will be looking to start their campaign on a victorious note.

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan is not happy with England’s preparation for the Test series against India. Vaughan opined that it is indeed ‘silly’ that the England Test players do not play warm-up matches before a Test series.

Vaughan also added that the England management might have to tell the players that they cannot play The Hundred tournament and instead concentrate more on red-ball cricket.

“It is silly that we don’t give our players one or two games facing the red-ball to prepare for a Test series. It is about management, and you might have to say to players you can’t play in The Hundred,” said Vaughan while talking on BBC.

In the last five weeks, there should have been five rounds of County Cricket: Michael Vaughan

Michael Vaughan further opined that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) should have organized at least four to five rounds of County Cricket so that the likes of Dom Sibley and Haseeb Hameed would have been in regular touch with the longest format of the game.

The 46-year-old former England skipper added that if first-class cricket is going on, and people there score centuries or scalp wickets, then it will put more pressure on the players who are representing England in Test match cricket, but not performing for the side.

“In the last four or five weeks there should have been four or five rounds of County Championship cricket so players that are just Test players like Dom Sibley and Haseeb Hameed would have been playing cricket. It is also important to have that cricket while Test is going on so people can make centuries, and take five-wicket hauls, and put pressure on the people that are playing in the Test team and not delivering,” concluded Michael Vaughan.

The first Test match of the series between the two sides ended in a draw, and the series is currently level at 0-0.