‘Few rumblings’: Vaughan’s shock Aussie claim; ‘generational’ star who must play Ashes — Daily

An Ashes winning former England captain has doubled down on a controversial claim about the Australian public’s relationship with its men’s Test team.

Meanwhile, an Australian great has taken aim at selectors over their approach to picking the XI for the first Test in Perth.

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‘THERE’S A FEW RUMBLINGS’: VAUGHAN’S SURPRISE CLAIM

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan raised eyebrows last week when words spread that, while speaking at a luncheon in Sydney, he alleged that the Australian public do not love the current men’s Test team.

It was a claim Vaughan was queried on by Fox Cricket colleague Mark Howard when he joined a panel of Howard, Adam Gilchrist and Mark Waugh to preview the Ashes ahead of the final T20 international between Australia and India at the Gabba on Saturday night.

Vaughan admitted that he had said that, and stuck by his words, saying “I’m not 100 per cent sure they do love this Australian team”.

“I think they’re obviously going to support the Aussie team, but I think there’s a few rumblings,” he added.

There was discontent among the Australian public when Pat Cummins’ side dropped the first Test against India last summer, but winning the series 3-1 alleviated such concerns.

Many Australian cricket fans are worried about the ageing demographic of the current team, with 26-year-old Cameron Green the sole member of the 15-player Ashes squad under the age of 30.

Vaughan believes such experience will bring success for the hosts, however, just as it did in the 2006/07 whitewash when Michael Clarke was the only player in their 20s in the dominant Australia side.

“This England side have got a great chance,” Vaughan said.

“They’re a very dangerous side. They’ve got some players that can cause some damage out here.

“I still have Australia as clear favourites because of the experience. I’ll give you a few numbers.

“England have got one player in their top seven that’s got one hundred here, and that’s Ben Stokes.

“England have got 43 wickets in their attack in Australian conditions. Ben Stokes 19, Mark Wood with 17, Joe Root with seven wickets.

“Australia have got over 700 wickets in their own conditions.

“That’s without Pat Cummins in Perth, and they’ve got near on 50 hundreds in these conditions.

“So, when people say England have got a 50/50 chance, that’s not right.

“They have a chance, but everything’s going to have go extremely well for them.”

‘GENERATIONAL PLAYER’: EX-AUSSIE SKIPPER GOES INTO BAT FOR FORMER TEAMMATE

Cameron Green is a “generational player” who should play in the first Ashes Test ahead of Beau Webster, according to former Australian captain Tim Paine.

Both all-rounders have been picked in the 15-man squad for the first clash against England, which begins in Perth next Friday, with Green’s capacity to bowl set to determine the final Australian XI.

Green has slowly built up his bowling since major back surgery in 2024 and it’s expected he’ll bowl the required overs in the Sheffield Shield game that begins on Tuesday to tick the boxes needed to bowl against England.

Webster was out for just 13 against South Australia in Monday, having made scores of 11 and six in his first Sheffield Shield outing for the season against Victoria last week after overcoming an ankle issue.

Picking Green could mean Webster, the incumbent No.6 who has played all seven Tests since the final match against India last summer, could lose his spot.

But Paine, a former Tasmanian teammate of Webster, known as “Slug”, said at his best Green was the better player and should get the nod despite how tough it would appear on Webster.

“I don’t find it staggering and I don’t think anyone should find it staggering,” Paine said.

“I try to select teams and coach teams optimistically and say right, ‘If this guy’s playing at his absolute best, what does that look like?’

“I think if you were completely honest, and we love the big Slug (Webster), but if you’re picking between him and Cameron Green as the all-rounder if they’re both fit, I think right now you’re still going with Cameron Green.”

Paine said Webster had shown his capacity to play at Test level but was the second choice all-rounder behind Green.

“Slug has come from probably the third or fourth all-rounder in Australia to putting pressure on Cam Green for his spot, so that’s an amazing amount of work that he’s done in 18 months to close that gap and to have that conversation now,” he told SEN.

“And if Cameron Green doesn’t perform, there’s a guy ready to step in to that place.

“I think Cameron Green, we know he’s potentially a generational player, he can change the make-up of your team, but he’s got to go out and perform now if that’s the way they go.”

Webster has made 381 runs, including four half-centuries, and taken eight wickets since his Test debut at the SCG in January.

Paine said Green was a “serious player” but conceded it would be “difficult” to leave Webster out.

“He (Green) is still young and he’s still getting better, and that’s not to say that Slug isn’t,” Paine said.

“But again, I think Slug, you can’t speak highly enough of him the way he’s handled the last 12 to 18 months, and even before that, to get himself in his position. He’s played superbly for Tasmania for a long period of time now, and he deserves to be where he is at.

“He’s got a guy in front of him at the moment that’s a serious player. But it’s a great position for Australia to be in that if Cam Green can’t bowl, then we’ve got Beau Webster to come in and do a good job.

“He’s averaged 35 with the bat and 23 with the ball in the opportunities that he’s been given, so it makes it a difficult decision to leave him out of any team.”

‘INVITED THE STORM’: CHAPPELL TAKES AIM AT SELECTORS

There was less optimism about the Australian team from former captain and selector Greg Chappell in an article he wrote for ESPN Cricinfo.

Chappell has long been an outspoken advocate for blooding youth in the national side, and he believes that current selectors George Bailey, Tony Dodemaide and Andrew McDonald have backed themselves into a corner with their current picks.

“Over the past year or so they have shied away from bold calls, leaving themselves no real option now but the conservative line,” Chappell wrote.

“They were risk-averse in picking the team. They missed an opportunity to lay down the gauntlet at one of the world’s unique venues. And they are actually taking a huge risk by playing batters out of position.”

Chappell believes that despite chosen in the Test squad for the first time, opening batter Jake Weatherald will be carrying the drinks in Perth.

Marnus Labuschagne would instead open the batting alongside Usman Khawaja to accommodate the selection of all-rounders Cameron Green and Beau Webster.

That would also mean Green batting at No.3 as he did during the tour of the West Indies and the World Test Championship final loss to South Africa at Lords earlier this year.

It is a move that Chappell is opposed too, preferring Labuschagne to reinstated at first drop.

“Opening with Labuschagne is extremely risky. He should bat at three, as that is his specialist spot, where he has delivered prolifically,” Chappell wrote.

“The fact that he is being considered as an opener suggests that the selectors do not have a specialist they trust, and that one or both of Green and Webster are well short of the bowling loads required to get through a Test match.

“Ian Chappell and Ricky Ponting were exceptional No. 3 batters for Australia in their time. That doesn’t mean that they would have been as successful had they been press-ganged into opening. They were often batting early in the innings but the mindset to walk out to open the innings is subtly different.

“Marnus has reinvented himself this summer with a return to the intent that he showed early in his Test career. For the past few seasons he has looked like someone who was batting to not get out. This risk-averse attitude to batting actually increases the risk of getting out.

“In this state of mind, the feet do not move and the runs dry up. Even if one succeeds in not getting out, one doesn’t make many runs because the number of deliveries that you can attack becomes limited. It would be a shame to risk short-circuiting his return to Test cricket by batting him out of position.”

Chappell stated that he would have made the “left-field choice” of entrusting white-ball skipper Mitchell Marsh to open the batting in his home city.

He insisted that Australia’s selectors need to abandon the “risk-averse attitude” that Labuschagne has removed from his game when playing for Queensland this summer, and take riskier options with their selections.

“Being risk-averse is not being risk-free,” Chappell wrote.

“By anchoring in the harbour of familiarity, Australia’s selectors may have invited the very storm they sought to avoid.

“Perth demanded courage. The Ashes demand it.

“A ship is safe in harbour, but that is not what ships are for.”

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