Michael Vaughan dissatisfied with Broad's complacency
Following England’s 9-wicket defeat to Pakistan in the first Test of a two-match series, former England skipper Michael Vaughan had suggested a reshuffle in the England team and Stuart Broad was the player he had named in order to initiate the change.
“If England want to play Chris Woakes on Friday, I'd make the tough call that Broad doesn't play,” Vaughan said on Monday.
Stuart Broad was definitely not happy to hear that and reacted to that comment after taking three wickets while England bundled out Pakistan for 174 runs in the second Test at Headingley. Broad called his former captain and expressed his disappointment over the criticism.
“I like punditry. I like hearing different people’s opinions, I respect people’s opinions when it’s fair. I didn’t feel last week it was particularly fair. Only two Tests ago, I got eight wickets in Christchurch. I’ve been beating the bat, I’ve been getting wickets for Nottinghamshire. But that’s the world we live in. You get used to both positive and negative opinions, but this time it did anger me a little bit, because I thought it was a bit unfair and a bit targeted.
“I called him. I’m friends with Vaughany, he was a fantastic captain to me, I like sharing a glass of wine with him. I called him and expressed my disappointment. He had his opinions on the headlines, et cetera. I’m very open to criticism. I’m not going to hold a grudge if I feel like I deserve it, but I don’t really feel like I deserved that. I thought I’d express that opinion to him, because there’s no point in it spinning around my mind and annoying me,” Broad reportedly said.
According to the paceman, Vaughan suggestion to rejig the team was a “shot in the dark”, because the former cricketer isn’t aware of the current situation in the dressing room.
“I don't think he's got much insight into the changing room at all. It was a bit of a wild guess, if he's going on what happens there,” he said.
“At this level you’ve always got a point to prove. As a team, we didn’t do ourselves justice at Lord’s. We left angry, because it’s always frustrating when you do a lot of talking and training and then collectively put in a performance like that.”
Vaughan, on the other hand, wasn’t pleased with the bowler’s timing of response to his criticism. He feels that Broad should not be complacent after just one good day.
“We lambast sportspeople who come out with clichés so it is good that Stuart has got a few things off his chest.
“I got the sense it was, 'You can't criticize me. I'm Stuart Broad and I've been in the team for a long time.’ You have to be careful in sport that comments can come back to bite you, but, on the other hand, it is entertaining. And that is what we want in sport,” said the 43-year-old.
“I'll also say that you have got to be careful when you choose a time to come out and attack like Stuart did last night. England are still 72 runs behind Pakistan (after day-1). They haven't won this Test match yet. The comments last night were geared as though they had won the game. He's a senior member of the team and I don't think it was the right time to plan that attack.
“He should have played a nice, straight bat for a few of the questions. He probably went on one because the frustration has been building up. He wants to show to the team and to everyone that he has been disappointed,” he added.
Michael Vaughan then went on to defend his opinion about dropping Broad. He also talked about Manchester United Football Club’s former coach Alex Ferguson and said how he had ruffled his team to gain success.
“The reasons why I said they should consider [dropping Broad] is that I felt the England Test team needed to ruffle a feather or two,” Vaughan said. “It has been very comfortable for a long period of time and one of the options might have been to break up the senior bowling pair.
“The reason I get frustrated is because of the amount of talent in that team. The performance levels have not been to the standard we expect. We don't want to criticize but every now and again they need a prod. Look at Sir Alex Ferguson, the greatest sporting leader and man-manager of our time. He ruffled feathers to try to regenerate and ignite teams,” said Vaughan.
The former England player said that he wants to know the reason England performs after well only after getting to a low point. According to him, the transition in England team will happen once Alastair Cook, James Anderson, and Broad will leave the side.
“I want to know why it is that the England team generally, for a few years - I guess it was the same during my time as well - why we have to criticize and get to a low point before there is a response. That's what happened yesterday. England were a different team. You could see it in the warm-ups and in the interviews that they wanted to prove us all wrong. Why does it need criticism to get that kind of response?
“I keep hearing from people in the England camp that this is a team in transition when you have three of England's greatest in the team - Cook, Anderson and Broad - and then you add Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow. They are fantastic players. The transition comes when Cook, Anderson and Broad leave the team, not now. If they get criticism, deal with it - like they did yesterday. It's the nature of international sport,” he said.
