Michael Vaughan has slammed English cricket chiefs over the mumber of domestic Twenty20 matches being played ahead of the Ashes, saying he would “punch them in the face” if administrators tried to justify their actions.
Vaughan, England’s captain when they regained the Ashes in 2005 in one of the most thrilling of all Anglo-Australian series, said that “every single player in the country should be playing four-day cricket now,” in order to give Alastair Cook’s men the best possible chance of retaining the urn.
Instead there have been no County Championship fixtures for a fortnight, with the first-class competition suspended just days ahead of Wednesday’s opening Ashes Test at Trent Bridge while the county Twenty20 tournament starts instead.
An angry Vaughan said all this could have been avoided, the former Yorkshire batsman telling a Sports Journalists’ Association brunch: “I get sick and tired of talking about scheduling but this is the biggest thing that happens in this country, the Ashes series.
“How our schedulers have not been able to produce a round of four-day championship matches leading into an Ashes series is beyond me.
“If I could get any answer from an administrator telling me it’s worthwhile us playing Twenty20 now, England playing Essex — and then I think Sussex play in a four-day game starting on Monday in the middle of Twenty20 — I’d punch them in the face. Because they are wrong. Every single county should be playing four-day cricket this week.”
Vaughan added: “England players would be better suited playing a real competitive county match under pressure than they would have been playing Essex.”