The former England captain did not mince words when reviewing his old side’s capitulation on the second day of the Ashes against Australia, questioning whether the result will have a lasting impact.
Michael Vaughan reckons England’s embarrassing capitulation in Perth is going to “damage them”, stating a team can’t be competitive without brains.
England lost the opening Ashes battle by eight wickets on the back of two calamitous batting collapses and Travis Head striking the equal sixth-fastest century in Test cricket.
The tourists lost 5-12 late in the first innings to be bowled out for 172 on day one.
They regained the advantage after skittling Australia for 132 early on day two, and England were on track for a big lead after cruising to 1-65 in their second innings.
But a collapse of 5-23 brought about their undoing, with their Bazball approach backfiring as Australia roared back into the contest.
Australia’s victory target of 205 was a walk in the park courtesy of Head, who reached his century in just 69 balls and finished with 123 off 83 balls.
It means England will head to Brisbane with their tail between their legs, and former captain Vaughan is worried about the mental scars they will carry.
“This is going to hurt England, it’s going to damage them I think,” Vaughan told Kayo.
“Ben Stokes won’t really understand what’s happened.
“We’re talking four-and-a-half hours of cricket where his team have gone from not a dominant position, but you’re in control of a game.
“They had the chance (on Saturday to bury Australia) and they lost 5-12 down the back end of the innings.
“They have the tools to be really competitive, but you can’t be competitive without brains.
“You can’t just play one way, which is what they’ve done, and they’ve come unstuck (on Saturday) and they came unstuck (on Friday).”
Stokes defended his team’s aggressive approach, believing it proved to be the best way to handle the tricky conditions.
“The guys who had success out on the middle were the ones who were brave enough to take the bowlers on and get them off their length,” Stokes said.
“Watching our guys bowl in that first innings, it just looked impossible in particular for Marnus (Labuschagne) and Steve (Smith) to be able to score when we were able to run up and smash away at that length.
“Anyone who tried to stay around there and tried to occupy the crease with a lot of time didn’t seem to have too much success.”
Stokes has told his team to embrace the pain of the two-day defeat.
But he doesn’t want them to hold on to the disappointment for long, saying they can’t afford to carry baggage into the second Test in Brisbane, which begins on December 4.
Former England paceman Stuart Broad was blown away by the tourists’ two-day implosion.
“I’m still drastically searching for positives from an English point of view,” he told the Seven Network.
“I’ve been wondering for months how they will get the fast bowlers through five Tests.
“If they’re going to be this quick, they’ve got a chance. Bowling seven, eight overs an innings – I think they can do that for a few weeks.”
2025-26 NRMA Insurance Men’s Ashes
First Test: Australia win by eight wickets
Second Test: December 4-8, The Gabba, Brisbane (D/N), 3pm AEDT
Third Test: December 17-21: Adelaide Oval, 10:30am AEDT
Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10:30am AEDT
Fifth Test: January 4-8: SCG, Sydney, 10:30am AEDT
Australia squad (first Test only): Steve Smith (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster
England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue, Mark Wood
