Former England Captain Revels In Australian Cricket Teams' Failures

Australian cricket is going through a tough period. The men's team, still reeling from the ball-tampering scandal, have tasted defeat in pretty much all their recent endeavours. The women's team have been very successful this year but on Saturday night received an absolute pasting at the hands of a rampant India in the Women's World T20 being held in the West Indies. England and Australia have been long-time rivals and every non-success of the latter is becoming a source of enjoyment for the English -- at least for former captain Michael Vaughan.

After India's emphatic 48-run win over Australia on Saturday night that helped them finish top of Group B, the former England captain took to Twitter to rub salt into Australian wounds.

Always worth a beer when 2 Australian Cricket teams Lose on the same day .... !!!!

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) November 17, 2018

The men's team had also been outplayed the same day by South Africa, who won the one-off T20I to inflict a third loss on the Aussies in four limited overs matches.

Before going down in the only T20I on Saturday, Australia had lost the ODI series 1-2 against the Proteas.

Off the cricket field as well there have been some torrid times for Australia in the past 18 months.

It all started with the lengthy pay dispute the players' union and Cricket Australia (CA). What followed in South Africa was even worse with grave repercussions for the sport in the country.

A massive controversy erupted when Australian batsman Cameron Bancroft was caught trying to alter the ball using sandpaper in the third Test at Newlands.

Captain Steve Smith, Bancroft and fellow conspirator David Warner came under heavy criticism from the public. Smith was stripped of the captaincy and all three players received lengthy bans.

The fallout was quite severe on Australian cricket. 

Chairman David Peever, CEO James Sutherland, coach Darren Lehmann, high performance manager Pat Howard, top media executive Ben Amarfio and board member Mark Taylor all quit in a cleanout of epic proportions.

On the field, the worst might be yet to come for the Australian men's team.

No.1-ranked Test team, ranked 2nd in ODIs and T20Is, India are in Australia for a long tour where all three formats will be played. They are being led by one of the most prolific batsman ever to the grace the game -- Virat Kohli. 

With the Indians in top form and no Smith and Warner, Australia are facing the prospect of getting a thrashing in their own backyard.

Topics mentioned in this article

England Cricket Team Australia Cricket Team Australia Women Michael Vaughan Cricket