‘England should drop Broad or Anderson’
LONDON: The fallout from England’s heavy defeat to Pakistan at Lord’s has continued, with former captain Michael Vaughan suggesting one of James Anderson or Stuart Broad should be dropped for the second Test.
The nine-wicket thumping at the Home of Cricket has already cost opener Mark Stoneman his spot, with England confirming on Monday that the out-of-form left-hander has been replaced by Lancashire’s Keaton Jennings.
But Vaughan says England’s problems have “gone beyond just changing the opening batsman” and says axing one of their star quicks, who have taken 946 Test wickets between them, could shake the side from its malaise.
“Perhaps England have to make a bold call this week at Headingley and consider leaving out one of James Anderson or Stuart Broad,” Vaughan wrote in The Telegraph.
“Anderson’s record at Headingley has improved in recent years but neither has particularly enjoyed bowling in Leeds, which requires a fuller length. I am sure England will pick both of them but it might be an idea just to consider doing something different because at the moment it is not working.
“England are losing. The Test team are just not playing very well and something has to be done. Anderson and Broad are brilliant bowlers but it would be a wake-up call if one was left out.”
Vaughan added “the easy call” would be to replace Mark Wood with Chris Woakes for the clash in Leeds, but that England need to look to the future and back in the pacey right-armer.
“Having three senior players in the team in Anderson, Broad and Alastair Cook is very difficult for Joe Root to manage ... [but] the one thing they cannot be doing is just hanging on until the end of the Ashes [next year],” he wrote.
“They have to buy in and lead the team.
“Those three have to drive England’s rebuilding before they [retire]. They have to give a lot more than just turning up and playing.”
Speaking later on BBC, Vaughan said Broad should be the one to make way if Woakes returns.
“If England want to play Chris Woakes on Friday, I’d make the tough call that Broad doesn’t play,” he said.
“This is just a think tank to drop Broad or James Anderson and I hope people within the team and the management think, ‘Could it make a just a little difference?’ You never know.”
Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2018