Michael Vaughan feels England's ability to tackle Australian pacers will determine Ashes outcome

Former England captain, Michael Vaughan recently said that the outcome of the upcoming Ashes series would depend on England’s ability to face and overcome Australia’s lethal pace attack. He observed that even though he’d have considered England to be totally out of the race 4-5 months ago, currently the team might have a shot at it and expects them to perform well. Vaughan also credited the new captain, Joe Root for having given the team a much-needed boost.

On his part, the 42-year-old served as the England captain in 51 Tests between 2003 and 2008. Out of these, his men won 26 Test matches, which went on to create a national record. As a prolific batsman, he scored 5719 runs in 82 Test matches, at an average of 41.44.

Vaughan feels England have a chance

According to a report in cricket.com.au, Vaughan said, “I think they’ve got a chance. I would have said four or five months ago ‘no chance’. But I just think they’ve found a bit of consistency. I think the arrival of Joe Root as a captain has certainly given them an edge, I think you need that. This England side have got pretty much everything covered. It’s just whether the batting can cope with the pace of Australia.”

Elaborating on his opinion, Vaughan added, “Can they bat against the pace and the bouncing ball, swinging Kookaburra ball for 20 overs? Can they cope with that? (Mitchell) Starc, (Josh) Hazlewood, (Jackson) Bird, (James) Pattinson – and you’re looking at (Pat) Cummins coming back in to the Test team as well – will bowl quicker than England, no question about that. They’ll bowl five or six miles an hour quicker and if the batsmen can cope with that and score 400-plus in the first innings on a regular basis then they’ll have a chance. If they can’t cope with the pace they’ll have no chance.”

Selection issues for England

He however, made his doubts clear about England being armed with very little choice. “You’d want to know two games to go before an Ashes series pretty much 90 per cent of your squad. Numbers two, three and five are still a little bit vulnerable. The problem with playing against the West Indies is they might only get one knock in each game, there might only be two knocks before the Ashes series is picked,” he said.

In conclusion, the former Yorkshire batsman noted, “I wouldn’t think that they can go and look elsewhere. I would think that the majority of the squad is now and should be pretty much gearing towards what they’re going to do in Australia.”