Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes the resurfacing ball-tampering scandal could cause cracks in Australia’s dressing room in the upcoming Ashes.
Australian cricket is once again dealing with the fallout from the Cape Town scandal back in 2018, after an explosive interview from Cameron Bancroft suggested that the bowlers were in on the tampering.
The bowling quartet of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon released a joint statement in response to Bancroft’s comments, but the scandal has resurfaced at the worst possible time, according to Vaughan.
The 46-year-old conceded that England must play good cricket to win back the urn, but said a poor start for Australia could see the home side unravel in the wake of the scandal.
“Dragging up the ball-tampering scandal has shown there are cracks in the Australia team that England could exploit if they start the Ashes series well later this year,” Vaughan wrote in a column for The Telegraph.
“David Warner, Steve Smith and the bowlers are under scrutiny again, and it would only take a poor Australia performance in the first Ashes Test for the pressure to mount.
“Joe Root will be enjoying this and thinking it could help. He knows an argument or two in the opposing team is always good. But fundamentally, England still have to play great cricket to win in Australia.
“They should not become distracted by Australia’s problems. Enjoy it in private, but rise above it in public.”
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
Source link
