By Ian Omoro

The Ollie Pope-led England squad was criticized by former captain Michael Vaughan for their over-aggressive tactics during the third Test match at The Oval against Sri Lanka. Vaughan voiced dissatisfaction with their field placements as well as their batting plan, accusing the squad of deploying techniques that showed a lack of regard for both the Sri Lankan team and Test cricket.

England was left reeling from their batting collapse in the second innings of the match as Sri Lanka earned a historic victory at the Oval. Fans and commentators have criticized the hosts for taking an excessively confrontational stance; Vaughan was the most recent to do so. The England team tends to get a bit complacent following a successful run, according to the former captain’s Telegraph piece. Vaughan believes that going into further difficult assignments, the team will use the loss as a wake-up call.

“They have made a habit of becoming complacent after a good period. I felt that they disrespected Test cricket and disrespected Sri Lanka in the third Test by being over-aggressive with both the bat and in their field placings. England have made a habit of becoming a bit complacent after a good period. I think of the start of the Ashes or earlier this year in Rajkot, and I hope it serves as a wake-up call for the tougher Tests that lie in wait in 2025. There is no way they will get away with playing like this against India or Australia,” Vaughan wrote on the telegraph.

“For me, the intensity and concentration in the big moments were missing this week. It was all a bit flimsy, cocky even. They took the mickey out of the game. The answer in Test cricket’s hottest moments cannot always be attack, attack, attack,” he added.

According to Vaughan, England’s field strategy was excessively forceful, putting the bowlers at a disadvantage.

“England bowled well this week. However, I believed the overly aggressive fields they chose to bowl on did the bowlers harm and placed them straight on the back foot. They had planned to play quite aggressively, but this wasn’t the pitch or match for that,” Vaughan stated.