'The truth is England panicked": English media slams cricket team for losing Oval Test, letting go of 'biggest win' of Bazball era

The English media did not held back after the England cricket team ‘panicked’ under pressure against India on Day 5 of Oval Test, losing the match by just six runs. As England were forced to settle for a series draw, the media slammed the team. read more

English media praised the thrilling cricket between India and England but rued the fact that the hosts could not win the series. Images: Reuters

The English media weren’t very kind to the England cricket team in particular as India secured a thrilling 2-2 series draw on Monday with a sensational session of play on the last day of the five-match Test series. Needing just 35 runs to win the fifth Test at the Oval, England lost their remaining four wickets in under an hour to finish on a disappointing 367, chasing 374.

England’s downfall was orchestrated by an inspired Mohammed Siraj, who spat fire with his outswinging deliveries and was ably supported by Parsidh Krishna under overcast conditions in London. Sira dismissed

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Jamie Smith, Jamie Overton and Gus Atkinson on Day 5 of the fifth Test, with Atkinson being the last to fall in the match, while Krishna cleaned up Josh Tongue in the final session of play.

Vaughan says England panicked on Day 5 vs India

It was a miraculous turnaround from India in a match where England looked the favourites despite being handed a 374-run chase, as they nicely motored to 332/4 with Joe Root batting on 105. Even with only 35 needed on Day 5 and Indian pacers having worked overtime, the hosts were the favourites, but the lower-order crumbled under the pressure, former England captain Michael Vaughan wrote in his column for The Telegraph.

“Let’s be honest, England should have won,” Vaughan’s column was headlined.

The former batter acknowledged England losing big names for the Oval Test as Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer sat out, but he conceded that the hosts eventually lost due to their failure to handle the pressure on Day 5.

“But the truth is England panicked,” Vaughan wrote on England’s batting. “The closer they got, within 70, they tried to be more high-risk. The approach was wrong on the final morning. It was too risky.”

“If India lost in that fashion, we would have said they yipped up. If South Africa lost like that, we would say they choked. It was that bad a miss. The defeat will really hurt England. When you know you should win a game, it is so painful,” he added.

England accused of squandering biggest win of Bazball era

Also, in The Telegraph, British cricket journalist Nick Hoult wrote about how “England let biggest win of Bazball era slip after all-time epic.” It was a sentiment shared by other English media outlets as well, who pointed out that Brendon McCullum’s team blew the chance to secure their biggest win after losing the plot in the final session of the Test series.

Lawrence Booth, writing in The Mail, penned a column headlined: “Brendon McCullum’s era is still lacking a prize scalp as England come up short again.”

“Thanks to the Manchester rain in 2023, and India’s fightback here, their two home series against Australia and India under Brendon McCullum have finished all square.

“Their record under Stokes and McCullum remains strong, but Bazball’s critics — mainly in Australia and India, though plenty in England — will not take them seriously until they beat one of the other members of the so-called Big Three,” Booth wrote.

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BBC’s chief cricket reporter, Stephan Shemilt, in his piece from the Oval, termed England’s defeat at the ground as a “missed opportunity.”

“It was highly creditable for England to get so close to chasing down 374, what would have been their second highest of all time. It was also a missed opportunity for a statement series win,” he wrote.

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