Michael Vaughan: This is how England can win back the Ashes
Michael Vaughan has revealed how England can win back the Ashes this winter as he declared their Australian opposition “not a great team”.
The former England captain, who led his side to victory in the iconic 2005 Ashes test series, outlined his blueprint of how to win Down Under.
Ben Stokes’s side will take on Australia over five matches in Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney from November 2025 to January 2026.
The Ashes are currently held by Australia, having won in 2021–22 and drawn in 2023 while England have not been victorious Down Under since 2010-11.
England need batters to take their chances
Speaking to Morning Wire, Vaughan highlighted the need for England to “hammer the basics” every day and keep in mind that they can’t play the same way all the time.
He said: “[England should] play with a player that allows them to tell Australia that they’ve got these players that can put them under a huge amount of pressure.
“But then use your brain, then use your maturity and your nous to understand situations that you can’t play one way all the time.
“The basic principles of playing in Australia are the basic principles of being successful in any team sport.
“You’ve just got to hammer the disciplines of the basics on a day-to-day basis. And if they do that, they’ll win.
“The basics are bowling to hit the top of the stump on a regular basis, batting in partnerships, making sure that you get to a 50, get a big 100, because individual big hundreds drive the score.
“That’s a real competitive one in Australia – there’s always going to be people that get low scores, but if you get in you’ve got to get a big one.
“I would say, quite importantly, and probably the most important: catch well. So many teams go to Australia and just don’t catch the ball well enough.
“In Australia, if you catch the ball well, I think with England’s bowling attack, they’ll create chances, and it’s just so important that they catch well, field well, and if they do that, they’re the basics of being successful in Australia.”
Can England learn from Europe’s Ryder Cup team?
Australia is known for its hostile sporting atmosphere for traveling teams – something that’s contributed to England losing 5-0 in 2013-14 and 4-0 both in 2017-18 and 2021-22.
Europe’s Ryder Cup team faced similar scenes last week when they pulled off their first victory on US soil since 2012.
As part of their preparations, Europe’s top golfers used virtual reality headsets to replicate the abuse they were anticipating from the New York crowd.
When asked what England can learn from their European counterparts, Vaughan said: “I’m sure they’ve probably had conversations.
“But this England team are quite flamboyant in everything that they do. The one thing I will say about winning in Australia, you’ve got to look after the one per cent and the one per cent are going through those kind of scenarios.
“The one per cents are making sure that your preparation is good and the one per cents are actually just thinking about the ‘what if’ scenarios
“What happens if we go 1-0 down in Perth? What happens if we go 1-0 up – all these kind of one per cent things are really important over the course of a seven-week tour of Australia, which is intense, it’s pressurised.”
‘This is not a great Australian Ashes side’
Vaughan added that England are not coming up against a vintage Australian side this winter, but one that is still better than they faced in 2010-11.
He said: “The first time I attended 2010-11, when we won there, I thought we had a great chance, because we were a very disciplined juggernaut with high-class players, a top seven that was rock solid and a bowling set that included Graham Swann.
“I always thought that the Australians were going through transition and would dip. This Australian side are a better team than 2010-11 side, but they’re not a great Australian side.
“If England can do the right things, I generally think they can win this winter, but it probably will come down to how well they started.
“I think if you go 1-0 down in Australia, history tells you that it’s very, very difficult to come back. So they have to get that first punch right, and that first punch has to arrive in Perth.”