In the Test series against Sri Lanka, things were going well for England. They had taken the series 2-0, and the disappointment of losing the third Test tempered their excitement for the first two wins. The hosts’ “Bazball” style was highly critiqued, but few would have predicted that the most recent criticism would come from their esteemed compatriot.
England was reduced to dust by Sri Lanka in the last Test at Oval, losing the innings at 325 after trailing 261 for 3. They were outclassed in the second innings and were on the verge of collapse at 82 for 7. In favourable weather on Day 5, the visitors defeated the hosts by eight wickets while chasing a manageable total of 218 runs. Michael Vaughan, a former England captain, charged that the team was “disrespecting Test cricket.”
Attack, attack, attack isn’t always the solution in the hottest moments of Test cricket, according to Michael Vaughan, who was quoted by Mirror.
Through their overly aggressive batsmanship and field positioning, they disrespected both Sri Lanka and Test cricket. After a successful run, England has a tendency to get comfortable, and I hope this serves as a wake-up call. Everything seemed very fragile, even cocky. The Mickey was removed from the game.
It was not, in my opinion, complacency at all: Ollie Pope
With players like Shoaib Bashir, Gus Atkinson, and Chris Woakes, England possesses a devastating bowling assault. However, Pathum Nissanka, the Sri Lankan opener, was unstoppable at 127 off 124 balls and the Three Lions were unable to restrain him. It took the Lankan Lions just 40.3 overs to complete the goal, and Ollie Pope, the captain of England, dismissed any notion of “complacency” inside the squad.
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“I don’t believe it was at all complacent. The fact that we lost this game has nothing to do with the long summer. Though we still arrived to play with the same goals in mind, something about this game just didn’t work out. After leading 1-0 in the first inning, we didn’t score enough runs, and I’d definitely attribute that to that, said Pope.