Sydney [Australia], December 31 : Michael Vaughan believes England's victory in the Boxing Day Ashes Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was a "lottery." He said that England must avoid a heavy defeat in the fifth and final Ashes Test in Sydney to ensure the continuation of the Brendon McCullum-Ben Stokes era, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
England, who have already lost the ongoing Ashes down under after losing the first three Tests consecutively, won the fourth Test against Australia on a bowling-friendly pitch that produced 36 wickets in the match, all to pacers, and only lasted for two days.
Pacer Josh Tongue was the hero for England at MCG. Tongue, who claimed bowling figures of 5-45 and 2-44 in the MCG Test, became the first England bowler to take a fifer in a Boxing Day Test at Melbourne in the 21st century.
England's win in Melbourne marked their first victory on Australian soil since 2011, ending a drought of more than 5,000 days. England, under head coach Brendon McCullum, have lost 17 matches and won 25 from 45.
Vaughan said England's Sydney Test is crucial, arguing that while the Melbourne win was good, it was a "lottery" and not a proper Test, and that the team and management now need to prove themselves by winning a complete, competitive match.
"I think it's a massive game for England [in Sydney]. It's nice to win a game of cricket, but let's be honest, it was a complete lottery in Melbourne. It wasn't a proper game of Test match cricket. For the future and for this management in particular, they need to win a strong game of cricket here ... that's not a two-dayer," Vaughan said as quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald.
Vaughan said that while Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum are likely to stay on, they need a strong performance in Sydney to cement their positions, warning that a heavy defeat would prompt serious internal discussions.
"For this management to carry on, the likes of Ben and Baz - I'm pretty sure they will carry on - but I think they need a good week for that to be absolutely rock solid. There's a huge appetite within the group to keep [McCullum] on. But fundamentally, if they get pummelled in Sydney, there needs to be some honest conversations," Vaughan added.
Vaughan said England should avoid constant changes but must honestly accept their mistakes from the tour, warning that denying faults would be a bigger issue. He stressed the need for greater maturity in how the team plays.
"I think chopping and changing is not necessarily the right thing for English cricket. Whatever happens at the end of this tour, they've got to accept that they got a lot of things wrong. If they're going to be so stubborn to think that they were a bit unlucky, or things didn't quite go the way they wanted ... well, we have a problem going forward. The key is maturity and that's the one thing that I think this team can be a lot better at, in terms of the way they play and talk. If they can accept that, I have no problem with the management staying the same," Vaughan said.