Vaughan blasts ‘pathetic’ England after Lord’s loss

The pressure continues to build on current skipper Alastair Cook after England slipped 1-0 down in the five-match Investec Test series, with the hosts falling short in their pursuit of 319 as they were all out for 223 having been 173 for four at one stage.

Several batsmen were undone by the short ball, with Matt Prior, Ben Stokes and Joe Root unnecessarily giving their wicket away by hooking Ishant Sharma (seven for 74) to catchers deep on the legside.

England are now without a win in their last 10 Test matches, losing seven times, and their latest setback has irked several pundits, most notably Vaughan, who has in recent days called for Cook to be replaced as captain.

He said: “It’s been absolutely pathetic from England.

“We’ve seen some collapses in the last year - against Australia, Sri Lanka and now India - but this is the worst of the lot. Something has got to change.

“India were the better team over the five days - they were better led and batted and bowled better.

“What was said in the England dressing room at lunch? To come out and play all those shots, it’s absolutely ridiculous.

“It’s as though Matt Prior came out thinking he was in the last-chance saloon and was going to hook every single ball.

“You can’t do that in a Test match. Ben Stokes played a hook shot on a pair. It was pure panic - but why are they panicking?”

Read a full match report and reaction to England’s defeat at Lord’s in The Yorkshire Post on Tuesday.