I see echoes of 2005 in England: Vaughan

Former captain Michael Vaughan believes the spirit of 2005 was alive and well in England’s emphatic first Test win over New Zealand.

Writing in The Telegraph, Vaughan admitted he had written off England’s chances in the Ashes prior to the series opener against the Black Caps, but said the nature of the 124-run win at Lord’s had caused a change of heart.

In 2005, England headed into the Ashes tasked with the goal of taking back the urn for the first time in 16 years from a No.1-ranked Australia team boasting Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting.

What ensued was a hard-fought and thrilling contest for the ages, that eventually saw England emerge triumphant when a draw on the fifth day of the fifth Test at The Oval secured a 2-1 series win.

“I see the echoes of 2005 in this England team and the summer we could be about to enjoy,” he wrote.

“It could be the summer of 2005 again. The Aussies are back playing the kind of cricket they played in 2005 and England have got a chance to try and produce a similar brand of cricket to match them.

“The way England’s bowlers worked together at Lord’s was very impressive and crucial to England beating Australia.

“Before Lord’s I thought England had no chance in the Ashes. However, if they can build on that performance then they could create something special this summer, but only if they continue to take risks and play intensive cricket.”

The result at Lord’s has brought with it an air of positivity to England cricket after the sacking of former coach Peter Moores and the controversy surrounding Kevin Pietersen.

It could spark the momentum England needs to reclaim the Ashes, but Vaughan cautioned that hope could also bring expectation and pressure.

“We have had false dawns before,” he warned. “We all got excited after the win in Grenada (in the second Test against West Indies recently) but I remember flying home after that Test thinking that we had to be careful not to get carried away because it was a magical spell from (James) Anderson that won the game.

“But if you look at the performance at Lord’s it had everything. I was buzzing. The bonus came at the end when they won, but it was the manner in which they played that was more important.”

England matched the Black Caps’ aggressive approach in the first Test, beating the visitors at their own game and prompting Black Caps skipper Brendon McCullum to question whether it was a sustainable style of cricket for the hosts.

"I guess the challenge for England will be, what is their authentic style?" McCullum said ahead of the second Test.

"It's a challenge we had to go through not too long ago, and hence we've come up with an aggressive style that we think is right for us.

"I guess time will tell if the performance of England in the last game is the way they want to play or whether it was one they stumbled upon."

While the second Test in Leeds will go some way to telling if England can continue the front-foot play, Vaughan said it was important to fight fire with fire.

“There is nothing worse than being pushed in the field on every ball, or knowing if you bowl a half-bad ball it is going to be crashed to the boundary, or that a partnership might only need to last an hour-and-a-half for an opponent that was 4-30 to be back in the contest.

“New Zealand and Australia both play that way so England have to match them. Australia do not like it if you take them on.

“This is an old Aussie team too: Mitchell Johnson, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke, Ryan Harris and Chris Rogers have all been around a long time. If you can go at a team like that, particularly in the field, and make them run around it will take its toll over five Test matches.”