Former England captain Michael Vaughan said that David Warner’s retirement from Test cricket has robbed Australia of a “mongrel” in their team before the 2025 Ashes series Down Under. He also added that David Warner’s absence makes Australia a very “nice team to play against”.
In his column for The Telegraph, Vaughan wrote: “Another factor with Warner’s departure is that Australia just seem a really nice team to play against. There’s no mongrel, no Aussie larrikin in the team. There used to be about eight of them, then it went down to one in Warner. I’m not sure any of them are like that now.”
While the veteran backed Steve Smith to be a successful opener, he also feels Marnus Labuschagne has run out of luck that made him one of the most dependable Test batters. Vaughan also stated that Travis Head is vulnerable against high pace as well.
He again wrote: “I think Steve Smith will prove to be an outstanding opener with Usman Khawaja, but the question is around the knock-on for the middle order, where he was so brilliant. Marnus Labuschagne is in a lean spell, has been found out a bit technically, and perhaps the luck he enjoyed at the start of his Test career (when 50 per cent of the chances he offered seemed to be dropped) has run out.”Travis Head is a brilliant risk-taker, but you have tough periods if you play that way, and against high pace he looks vulnerable.”
However, Steve Smith was unsuccessful in his first three innings as an opener before stepping up with the bat in the fourth innings in Brisbane against the West Indies. Although he scored an unbeaten 91, Australia lost by eight runs. Vaughan also showed his concern for veteran spinner Nathan Lyon, who will be 38 by 2025 Ashes as well.
“They have no replacement for Nathan Lyon, who will be 38 by that series and is already suffering muscle injuries. There’s no one waiting in the wings to do anything like the job Lyon does in Australian conditions. Todd Murphy is a promising bowler who can do it in India when it’s ragging. By the end of the Ashes, Mitchell Starc will be almost 36, Josh Hazlewood will be 35, and Cummins will be 32. They are great players, but that is the sort of age where they cannot just peel off all five Tests like they have in the past, and injuries will creep in. They need to find back-up,” Michael Vaughan concluded.
