Former captain Michael Vaughan said the England deserve to top the rankings in Test cricket but was concerned about their deteriorating performance in the ODIs after a 0-5 whitewash in India.
Former captain Michael Vaughan said the England deserve to top the rankings in Test cricket but was concerned about their deteriorating performance in the ODIs after a 0-5 whitewash in India.
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"It is always harder to play away from home but England have to lose their short-sighted vision of playing on green wickets in this country. Look at results this year. Away from home we have lost 6-1 to Australia, been beaten by Bangladesh and Ireland during the World Cup, and now lost 5-0 in India," Vaughan wrote in his column in The Telegraph.
"Our overall result against Sri Lanka and India in the summer was 6-2, but the scores only tell a certain story. Last summer we played Sri Lanka on the greenest Oval pitch I have ever seen and won comfortably.
"England then played at Headingley on a flat wicket that took a bit of spin and lost. They were not happy and went berserk at the groundsman. What happened next?
"At Trent Bridge, Sri Lanka were rolled over on an absolute classic English green top. Result? England won by 10 wickets," he said.
Vaughan said if England want to be the best team, they have to perform on slow and turning pitches in the sub-continent regularly.
"They perhaps wanted Alastair Cook to win a few games as a young captain but I am sorry, if you want to be the best team in one-day cricket then you have to play on slow, turning pitches consistently. You can pick any one of England's last 10 50-over teams and, on a green top, they would win. That is going back 14 or 15 years.
"But when it is flat, bowlers are put under pressure and batters have to rotate the strike in the middle overs, and clear ropes at the end of the innings, or you don't win many games of cricket," he said.
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