‘They have played better when they’ve had a bit of bite in them’ – Michael Vaughan advises England to not follow New Zealand’s ‘nice guys’ template

Former batter Michael Vaughan said that England would be better off not following New Zealand’s template of being the ‘nicest guys’ at the highest level. Rather, he urged the Three Lions to go out all guns blazing. The Brits have strained to find their feet in the ongoing Ashes as they are trailing 0-3 with a solitary Day-Night Test, starting January 14 at the Bellerive Oval, remaining.

After losing three games in a row in Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne, the visitors managed to eke out a draw in the fourth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. With all their 10 wickets intact on Day five, England almost slumped to their fourth loss.

However, Zak Crawley and Ben Stokes scored half-centuries to make sure that the visitors managed to hold their nerve in the critical match situation. The lower order batters also played a massive role in England managing to salvage some pride at the SCG.

Vaughan was clear cut in saying that the rub of the green hasn’t gone in England’s favour in the ongoing five-match Test series. He also said that the Brits are a team that plays the best when put under extreme pressure. Vaughan asked England to play attacking cricket going forward.

It’s just not gone their way, says Michael Vaughan

“I think what he’s shown this week, and we’ve all been crying out for the first three Test matches, I think England are a better team when there’s a bit of bite in that team. People don’t like it when you say you want them to be a bit nasty, but I think England plays better when their backs are against the wall,” Vaughan told foxsports.com.au.

“People say they’re not trying, they don’t care, these guys care hugely, it’s just not gone their way,” Vaughan stated.

“But this is the platform that you’ve got to fight every single week and no one likes to use the terminology of ‘nasty’ because it’s not right and they’ll say New Zealand play lovely cricket and they’re the nicest guys in the world, that’s New Zealand, England have always played better cricket when they’ve had a bit of bite in them and that’s what I want to see going forward,” he added.