Team England Needs To Bat For Long Time To Create Chances In The Ashes: Vaughan

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Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes that batting for a long time will be key to England's chances in the Ashes later in the year. He also said that England will have to train their minds for making 400 runs in the first innings and 600 runs in every Test.

"The key to England's chances is batting for a long time. They cannot be a 300-all-out team. They will do nothing that way. They have to train their brains to make 400 in the first innings. They are going to need at least 600 runs per Test match. Even that might not be enough but it is a minimum requirement," wrote Vaughan in his column for The Telegraph on Saturday.

He also said that if this happens, then England have a chance in posing tactical questions and challenges to Australian skipper Tim Paine. "If they do that then they will take the game deep and will ask Tim Paine tactical questions. That is when he has come unstuck in the past. Late in Test matches is when he struggles: 2019 Headingley and last year against India in Brisbane and Sydney. If you push Australia into the final sessions of Test matches that is when you challenge them."

Vaughan felt that picking 17 members for the Ashes will be fine. "You only need 16 or 17 in a squad. Sometimes you can have too many and it can become a distraction. They need to make a call early and pick 17, leaving the rest to go off and be with the Lions or play a bit of Big Bash. You can always bring someone back in."

The 46-year-old wondered if pacer Mark Wood will be a real threat with his pace. "The problem for England is they lack the one thing you need in Australia: raw pace. Mark Wood is very important but the problem for him is you need movement as well and the Kookaburra ball does nothing. It means I'm not sure how much of a threat he will offer. The skiddy, shorter bowlers with pace can be successful in Australia but they need to be skilful like Darren Gough. Wood is more about pace than movement."

Vaughan concluded by saying that England also need to have a quality spinner in their ranks and that left-arm spinner Jack Leach should take inspiration from South Africa's Keshav Maharaj. "You also need a quality spinner. The only time they have taken a high-quality spinner to Australia in my lifetime was Graeme Swann. England do not have a high-class spinner but they do have Jack Leach. He has to look at what Keshav Maharaj did for South Africa five years ago. He kept it tight in the first innings before being more of a threat later on. But he only had success because the batters scored runs."