"He showed a bit of lack of class" - Michael Vaughan slams Australia skipper Tim Paine
Former England captain Michael Vaughan slammed Tim Paine for showing a lack of empathy for the England players. He pointed out that Paine hasn’t gone through the horrors of a bio-bubble like the England players over the last two years.
Australia captain Tim Paine tickled a nerve by stating that the Ashes will go ahead irrespective of the availability of the top players from England. He has drawn a lot of flak ever since coming out with this statement.
Michael Vaughan felt that Tim Paine showed a lack of class with the statement, which doesn’t fit well for a Test match skipper.
“As a Test match captain, you have to show a bit of empathy. In the last two years, he hasn’t taken his team overseas. He hasn’t had to go through what these England players have gone through. He hasn’t gone through what Joe Root has gone through. He plays only one format of the game. I do believe he showed a bit of lack of class,” Michael Vaughan told ABC Sports.
The last Test series that Australia played away from home was back in 2019 when they toured England for the Ashes. The former Ashes-winning captain added that the comment would not have gone down well with the players in the England side.
“I don’t think that went down well with the players. There is a huge amount of respect between the two sides. And particularly, anyone that’s captain of an international side, I personally think he didn’t need to say what he said.”
Love how the @TheBarmyArmy are relentlessly sledging Tim Paine. Great banter before the series! #TheAshes
Michael Vaughan believes Australia are a vulnerable side
Michael Vaughan reckons the current Australian side are a vulnerable unit. There have been occasions in the recent past where they should have closed out games easily but ended up on the wrong side of the result. He believes that it evidenced the vulnerability of the side that the opposition could exploit.
“They can be beaten. We saw that with India, when they lost to a second-string India side, particularly in that last game at Brisbane (…) They (Australia) ended up drawing the Ashes when they should have hammered England in 2019. And then the last winter against India, going 1-0 up, bowling India out for 36 at the Adelaide Oval, Virat Kohli going home, and then not to win that series tells me that they are a vulnerable team. They are a good team, they’ve got a good bowling attack, but they are certainly vulnerable,” Michael Vaughan added.
can i just say that it would be incredible if england didn’t go over for the ashes but tim paine’s still stood in his blazer ready for the toss on Dec 8th
Michael Vaughan wants England to stay in the game and take the matches deep to try and put pressure on Tim Paine. He felt that Paine can make tactical errors when the pressure mounts on him.
“Get Australia to Days 4 & 5 when they know they can lose. Get them in a tactical battle. It has been proven off late that if you get Tim Paine into a tactical battle, you look at the last day in Sydney, with that comment to Ravi Ashwin, if you can get Tim Paine thinking, and if you can get him into that pressurized zone (Australia can be vulnerable).”
The Ashes is set to commence on December 8, right after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup. The first Test will be played at the Gabba in Brisbane.