Michael Vaughan has predicted that Jos Buttler will be the "scapegoat" of England's dismal Champions Trophy exit, but has warned that their problems "run much deeper" than his captaincy.
Writing for The Telegraph, Vaughan stated that the most worrying aspect of England's loss to Afghanistan in Lahore yesterday (February 27) was that it was "not surprising".
Vaughan: Buttler will be the scapegoat
"This is part of a wider pattern," wrote Vaughan. "I expect there will be change again after this. Given he has been part of three failed ICC tournaments in a row, Jos Buttler will not survive as captain. The 50-over World Cup was a complete shemozzle for many reasons, then the T20 in the Caribbean was limp, and cost Matthew Mott his job. This time, with another defeat by Afghanistan, Buttler will be the scapegoat.
"But let's not kid ourselves that it will suddenly change everything, because England's problems run much deeper."
The loss to Afghanistan was England's sixth in a row in 50-over cricket. Since the end of the 2023 World Cup, they have lost 12 of their 16 ODIs, including a 3-0 whitewash in India before the start of the Champions Trophy, which was Brendon McCullum's first assignment as 50-over coach.
Following their exit from the T20 World Cup last year, England underwent a significant personnel change on and off the pitch in white-ball cricket, with Matthew Mott leaving as coach while Moeen Ali and Dawid Malan announced their international retirements, and Jonny Bairstow was dropped from the set-up. Since the start of last summer, Jacob Bethell, Jordan Cox, Dan Mousley, Jamie Overton and John Turner have all made their white-ball debuts.
However, now at their lowest point of the Buttler era, significant change is likely to be made again.
"Cannot seem to give full attention to both Test and white-ball cricket"
"In English cricket, we just cannot seem to give full attention to both Test and white-ball cricket," wrote Vaughan. "At no stage in our history have we been good at both for any meaningful period of time. That is not good enough and is down to management. Look at Australia, New Zealand, even South Africa now. They can juggle formats. We always talk about how much talent there is in English cricket and I do not doubt that. We have a huge amount. But why can't we have a great Test and white-ball team at the same time?"
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Vaughan went on to criticise England managing director of men's cricket, Rob Key, and the selection team as having "taken their eye off the ball" in regard to the white-ball format. In particular, Vaughan criticised their stance on picking pace bowlers and voiced concern over younger batters in the squad who "do not know how to build an innings" in 50-over cricket.
"It's time to accept the approach is not working," wrote Vaughan. "To get back to their best, they are going to have to think a bit more deeply than just rocking up and playing. For a problem this deep, there are no quick fixes."
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