Michael Vaughan has warned England against “take the mick out of the game” after a careless batting display against Sri Lanka in the third Test at the Oval. England, well-placed at 221-3 come stumps on the opening day, were dismissed for 325 all out in their first innings as they lost all of their remaining seven wickets before lunch on Saturday’s second day in south London. Sri Lanka, already 2-0 down in this three-match series, then collapsed to 93-5 but reached stumps on 211-5 following an unbroken century partnership between captain Dhananjaya de Silva (64 not out) and Kamindu Mendis (54 not out).
England have become known for their aggressive ‘Bazball’ approach under the leadership of coach Brendon McCullum and currently injured captain Ben Stokes in recent years.
But Ashes-winning former England skipper Vaughan believes they got carried away on Saturday, citing a frenetic innings of 19 by Harry Brook as the worst example.
“I would ask England, ‘were you on it all day like you would be against India and Australia?’,” Vaughan told the BBC. “If they look themselves in the mirror and say they were I would say they are lying.
“There are cricketing gods up there and in a year’s time there are tougher challenges (ahead). Just be careful, Harry Brook. He is an incredible player but don’t take the mick out of the game (treat it lightly).
“England delight me a lot in the way they play, I like that they do things completely differently, but I sometimes watch and say be careful because this game has a way of biting you.”
Vaughan’s fellow ex-England captain Alastair Cook, a former opening batsman, was also unhappy with the way Brook approached batting when Sri Lanka set a defensive field.
“Sri Lanka bowled in the channel and he didn’t like, so he was moaning to the umpire in jest that it was a bit boring and went to bat on sixth stump,” said Cook. “He then hit one straight to cover.
“Rather than finding a method he was more about trying to talk about it than deal with it. England were complacent today.”
Sri Lanka coach Sanath Jayasuriya, one of the most outstandingly aggressive run-scorers of his generation, said there were occasions when batsmen had to change the tempo of their innings.
“He (Brook) was frustrated,” Jayasuriya said. “Sometimes you have to slow it down a bit. You can’t be in top gear all the time when you play this type of cricket.”
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