Michael Vaughan OBE believes modern cricketers should take inspiration from golf’s No.1 Scottie Scheffler by playing and practicing more regularly to reach their potential.
The former England captain said players risk losing their rhythm by resting too often, especially batters, who he said should spend more time in match conditions.
Vaughan continued speaking Betfair and The Overlap’s Stick to Cricket show alongside Sir Alastair Cook, David Lloyd and Phil Tufnell.
The episode also shows Tufnell witnessing Shane Warne’s “Ball of the Century” first-hand, while Vaughan recalls being stopped by police after celebrating an Ashes Test in Sydney.
For exclusive stories and all the detailed cricket news you need, subscribe to The Cricket Paper website, digital edition or newspaper from just 14p per day.
Vaughan: Hitters should follow Scheffler’s example
“You look at someone like Scottie Scheffler, he’s the best golfer in the world and plays every week, practices every day and keeps getting better,” Vaughan said.
“In cricket they play less. Why? I get it with bowlers because it’s a strain on the body, but certainly batters?”
Cook agreed, saying players lose their edge without regular action: “I understand you get to a point where you eventually need a break, but remember your first preseason game when all you did was bat inside in February and March, and then you go out and it’s just so different.
“I don’t understand how not playing games can benefit you.”
Lloyd added: “That mental process when you’re in the middle – you get one chance – a bowler has five overs, so he has 30 events to get you out, whereas you can make one mistake and then sit back down. You have to play.”
“Can I take you back to when we had Wazim Akram? He said: ‘When I was 21, I wanted to play every match there was.'”
Tufnell remembers Warne’s first Ashes ball
Phil Tufnell recalled the disbelief among the England players when Shane Warne delivered the “ball of the century” in his first Ashes appearance.
“We were all watching the top of Old Trafford with the television on the wall,” he said. “We didn’t have any analyzes or anything like that at that time.
“We bowled first and someone went away: ‘Here you guys are, we better have a look around here. We better have a look at this Warne boy… he won’t be good.’
“A long-legged guy who gives you a few short balls. We were all standing around the television and he bowls this ball and we all just went ‘f**king hell’.
“It was his first appearance in The Ashes. So basically he was a loser! Just great!”
Vaughan during a nighttime police stop in Sydney
Vaughan went on to recall how police stopped him after he celebrated with the Aussies following the final Test of the 2003 Ashes in Sydney.
“We drank with the Aussies in their dressing room, all in our whites,” he said. “We were there for a few hours and then we leave the ground and everything shuts down.
“Remember the Gatorade truck coming onto the field? I’m walking out with Butch, John Crawley and Rob Key.”
“Crawley gets in the buggy and drives us out of the SCG. We go up the road and at the lights, when suddenly the police stopped and said, ‘Mr Crawley, you better take that back please!'”
The panel’s best Ashes moments
The Stick to cricket panel ranked their all-time favorite Ashes memories:
- Ben Stokes’ Miracle at Headingley (2019)
- Ian Botham’s exploits at Headingley (1981)
- Stuart Broad’s 8-15 in 2015
- Shane Warne’s Ball of the Century (1993)
- Andrew Flintoff is at Edgbaston (2005)
- Steve Smith’s double century
Episode 21 of Betfair and The Overlap’s Stick to Cricket show is up here.
READ MORE: England are given an Ashes warm-up warning as they prepare to take on Andrew Flintoff’s Lions
#Michael #Vaughan #England #cricketers #copy #Scottie #Schefflers #approach #improve