Sydney, Jan 7 (IANS) Former England captain Michael Vaughan has hailed Jacob Bethell’s gritty century in the final Test of the ongoing Ashes series at the Sydney Cricket Ground, calling the 22-year-old a new star of English cricket.
Bethell scored his maiden Test century off 162 balls. At 22 years and 78 days of age, he became the second youngest batter to score an Ashes hundred in the 21st century, behind only former England captain Alastair Cook, who achieved the feat in 2006 at the age of 21.
The former skipper Vaighan shared a post on X, praising Bethell’s technique and class while lauding the youngster’s temperament under pressure.
"A star has been born here at the SCG. The tempo, technique and class of Jacob Bethell today is the blueprint for England’s future Test batters," Vaughan wrote on X.
At the end of Day Four, Bethell stood as England’s lone warrior in their second innings, finishing unbeaten on 142. The visitors took a lead of 119 runs but lost eight wickets as they crossed the 300-run mark.
Vaughan has recently criticised the England setup as the team heads towards another defeat Down Under.
Ben Stokes’ side has already lost the Ashes, and the pressure is mounting on captain Stokes, head coach Brendon McCullum and managing director of cricket Rob Key.
The former cricketer believes England’s much-lauded Bazball philosophy, while entertaining at times, has fallen short when it has mattered most.
“We know at the end of Ashes tours, particularly when you’ve had two goes at trying to win the Ashes, generally personnel does change. If this management carries on, they clearly have to carry on and change. They have to change the culture around the group. They seem to have created a cult around the way this team play and talk. A lot of it is nonsense. That has to change,” Vaughan said on Fox Cricket.
“They haven’t won a big, big series, home and away. This team has won in Pakistan and New Zealand, but you don’t get remembered for winning in those countries,” he added.
--IANS
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