Former captains Kevin Pietersen and Michael Vaughan tore into the England team after Australia hammered them on the opening day of the second Test at Lord’s here with the former blasting them being ‘shambolic’ and hoped that coach Brendon McCullum gave them their “biggest hammering”. On Day One, Josh Tongue claimed 2-88, while James Anderson (0-29), Stuart Broad (0-72) and Ollie Robinson (1-86) failed to trouble the Australian batters much. That led to Pietersen tearing into them from the commentary box, calling their performance “absolutely shambolic”. Pietersen, who had begun the day with the honour of ringing the pavilion bell before the start of play, offered a merciless assessment as Travis Head and Smith tucked in.
Vaughan agreed that were too casual in the field throughout the day. “England were just not sharp enough,” he said on BBC. “England have got this approach to Test cricket that is quite casual. They talk the talk, the message after Edgbaston was very positive, with young players coming out with bold statements. “But the casual approach came out today [Wednesday] in the middle. You get David Warner out and then Steve Smith walks out, and within 15 balls, he’s got 25 because England bowled utter dross,” he added. Meanwhile, Nasser Hussain, the former captain of England, has strongly criticised Ben Stokes and his teammates, characterising their performance on the opening day.
“They were subdued despite winning the toss and there was a real lack of intensity to their bowling attack—the speeds of each of the five seam bowlers was down and they didn’t bowl bouncers to change things up—while the fielding was sloppy and they missed catches. “Where was the spark? Where was the urgency? When the Just Stop Oil protest happened, there was a lot of chat and then, when it rained they strolled off and were still upstairs when the Australian batters were waiting on the steps at the bottom of the pavilion.
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