Joe Root's greatest challenge on his first Ashes tour as captain will be to improve consistency and England must hit the ground running in Australia, former skipper Michael Vaughan told AFP. England, fresh from home series wins against South African and the West Indies, head to Australia in November for a five-match series, desperate to exact revenge for the 5-0 drubbing they suffered in 2013-14.
Despite their successful summer, Root's men have had some wobbly moments, being soundly beaten in the second matches of both series by the touring teams. Vaughan, who is happier with the state of the England team now than after their humiliating 340-run loss against South Africa, said it was crucial that the tourists avoid a hammering in the first Test at Brisbane, where they have a poor record.
"The way the team has played for the past few years is they have been inconsistent and he (Root) will want to bring consistency," Vaughan told AFP on the sidelines of the Betting On Sports conference in London. "I don't mean lose a game, that happens, but the problem is when they have lost they have been hammered, bowled out in a session or a day.
"Against the West Indies in the second Test they fought their way back into the game after being outplayed in the first two days and only just lost. "Lose the first day against Australia and you are gone," added the 42-year-old. Vaughan, who said there would be two or three players on each side who would have question marks over them ahead of the first Test, believes several will be determined to put matters right after England were hammered under Alastair Cook on their last tour Down Under.
England regained the Ashes at home in 2015 so travel to Australia as holders. "The last memory for these players or some of them of touring Australia is the 5-0 thrashing," said Vaughan, who captained England 51 times. "There was turmoil, the (Kevin) Pietersen fallout, (Graeme) Swann retiring abruptly and management issues.