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'Appalled' Vaughan urges England batsmen to respect Test cricket

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ANI Melbourne [Australia]

Former captain Michael Vaughan has been left 'appalled' following England's batting collapse against South Africa in the Trent Bridge Test.

England were dismissed for 205 in their first innings on Day Two of the ongoing second Test, and Vaughan took the English batsmen to task for their terrible performance.

"The England batting has been appalling. Maybe it's a lack of respect about what the game is," Vaughan was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

"They look like they are playing a Twenty20 game. I look at the approach - yes, the ball has done a little bit but it's not been drastic. They have this approach of attack, attack, attack. There is no thought or feeling of seeing off a bowler or wearing a team down," he added.

 

The former skipper further said that the England's batsmen need to trust their own techniques in order to play long innings.

The (batsmen) don't trust their techniques to stay in long enough. That's a concern. England regularly collapse. It's always when the ball does a little bit," he added.

Vaughan believes the current crop of England batsmen could learn lessons from the way South Africa have approached batting in the ongoing Test match.

"Look at the way South Africa played," he said.

"A lot of England's players look like they are premeditating their shots. The best way is to watch the ball and react. I worry about the mentality of the Test batting because as soon as the things get difficult - it swings around or spins - they play aggressively," he added.

The 24-year-old feels that England have too many all-rounders in the line-up and that's why they need to include an extra batsman in their playing XI when they face Australia in the Ashes series later this year.

"England are a batter light. You don't need six bowling options. This is the kind of team you pick after winning Test match after Test match," he said

"You have three all-rounders in Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali and Jonny Bairstow, so pack the batting. All the players from Joe Root down will give you chances."

"England lost eight Tests last year. They need to pack the batting. They are not good enough or winning enough games to go with that line up," he added.

England hold a 1-0 lead in the four-match series following their massive 211-run-victory in the Lord's Test.

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First Published: Jul 16 2017 | 2:39 PM IST

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