The West Indies men’s cricket team is on a tour to England for a series of 3 test matches. The three red ball matches will be held on 10, 18 and 26 of July. The first match will be held on 10 July at the iconic Lord’s ground, London. Ahead of the first red ball match, Michael Vaughan bashes Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes for not giving preference to county cricket talent.
The first Test match between England and West Indies has started at Lord’s. The hosts won the toss, opting to bowl first. Currently, the England team has a winning probability of 86% against the West Indies.
Michael Vaughan disregards Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum
Former England captain Michael Vaughan expressed dissatisfaction with the playing XI selected for the first Test against the West Indies. The three-match series began on Wednesday, July 10, at Lord’s in London.
Vaughan’s criticism focused on the inclusion of players who aren’t regarded as top choices for their counties in County Cricket. On his podcast, “The Vaughany and Tuffers Podcast,” he specifically highlighted the selection of off-spinner Shoaib Bashir and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith.
Vaughan thinks the selectors are ignoring strong County Cricket performances when choosing the national team. Despite his criticism, England has a strong home record against the West Indies in Tests. In their last series in 2020, England won 2-1 after losing the first Test.
“They are not looking at County cricket. They are just looking at the players. Bashir is not the first-choice spinner at Somerset, Jack Leach is. Ben Foakes is the first-choice keeper at Surrey and not Jamie Smith.” Vaughan said.
“England are picking players that aren’t first-choice at their counties. I don’t think they are looking at County cricket as a tool to say ‘You are an international cricketer.’” He added.
Here’s the England squad
This is the England Test squad for the West Indies series that Michael Vaughan is frowning upon. The squad has introduced two new players in the team.
One of them is the young off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, who took 17 wickets in three Tests during the recent tour of India, will get his first opportunity to play on home soil.
The other is Jamie Smith, who has scored over 500 runs for Surrey in the County Championship, will debut as England’s wicketkeeper.
This is the England squad: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, James Anderson, Daniel Lawrence, Matthew Potts, Dillon Pennington.
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