Michael Vaughan thinks England's one-day form will be vital in the Ashes
Thursday 25 June 2015 16:16, UK
Michael Vaughan feels the England Test team’s ability to tap into the spirit of the one-day side will prove critical in the Ashes.
England go into the series against Australia on the back of an invigorating ODI campaign against New Zealand in which they produced some excellent cricket and won 3-2.
Vaughan feels that success has created a new wave of optimism around the country and it couldn’t have come at a better time with a home Ashes series next on the schedule.
The former England skipper told Sky Sports News HQ that the key to upsetting the odds and beating Australia will be for the team’s senior players to maintain the momentum set by the white ball team.
“That’s going to be the challenge,” said Vaughan. “The players who weren’t involved in the one-day series have got to grab that spirit.
“They’ve got to be asking the one-day players what happened in that series and what was being talked about. In the Test series we saw a different England with a different approach but in the one-day series it went up another level.
“The way that they played was a revelation compared to the way the one-day side has played in the past 20 years and the senior players were consistent to that.
“The senior core of Ian Bell, Alasdair Cook, James Anderson and Stuart Broad will need to do exactly the same in the Ashes.”
And if England do win the Ashes then Vaughan feels they may owe a debt of gratitude to New Zealand.
The Black Caps provided the early-summer opposition for two Tests, five ODIs and a T20 match and, within them, the template for an attacking style of cricket which has captured the imagination of the English supporters.
“I don’t remember so many people wanting to talk cricket as they have over the past six weeks,” said Vaughan. “It’s the way that the team has played. The New Zealanders deserve some credit for bringing this brand of cricket here on this tour.
“They are the right team to copy and they played the right team at the right time. They did that in the Test series and then they beat them in the one-day series by playing a bold and fearless approach.
“Cricket needs to sell itself. It needs personalities and it needs a team which people want to buy a ticket to watch.
“Even if they lose playing that way, people will want to be in the stadiums and watching on the television.”
The first Ashes Test is live from Cardiff on our dedicated Sky Sports Ashes channel from Wednesday July 8
