Michael Vaughan criticises England team management for Plunkett treatment

Michael Vaughan. (Photo: Twitter/@MichaelVaughan)


Former England captain Michael Vaughan is disappointed that the English team management failed to inform Liam Plunkett about his omission from the 55-member training group.

Plunkett, who helped England win the 2019 World Cup, said recently that he still believes he is one of the best fast-bowlers in the country despite not getting picked.

Plunkett, who picked up three wickets in the World Cup final against New Zealand, stated not much has changed since last year and he can still do the job for the country on international level.

“Do you know what, Phil? The most disappointing thing that I heard in that interview was that after the World Cup final, he won England a World Cup with a group of players and management, and not one person rang him up. Not one person,” Vaughan said in a podcast with former left-arm spinner Phil Tufnell.

“He had to find that (news of omission) out through Twitter — I’m sorry, that’s back in your day, Phil. That doesn’t happen in this era of cricket, that’s a disgrace.”

The pacer also revealed he would be open to play for the USA in the future. For that to happen, Plunkett will have to serve a necessary three-year residency period in the country to meet the eligibility criteria.

“It would be nice to be involved in some sort of cricket over there,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Tuffers and Vaughan Show.

“My kids might be American, so it would be quite cool to say to them that I played for England and the US.

“I’m English and I’ll always be an Englishman, but if I’m still fit and there’s an opportunity to play at the highest level, why would I not take it?

“If I go over there and end up being a US citizen, or have a green card, I can help the development, especially being someone who has just finished with England. It would be nice to get involved in that,” he added.

The coronavirus pandemic has brought the entire world to a standstill and the sporting arena is no exception. Most of the high profile tournaments including the Tokyo Olympics 2020 stand postponed.

Even the biggest cricketing spectacle on the planet, the Indian Premier League (IPL), stands suspended indefinitely owing to the coronavirus pandemic. Recently, Bundesliga became the first high-profile sporting event to resume after a 65 day period with almost no sporting activity.

A few cricketing boards around the world have only recently granted permission to their players to resume training.

The move to restart sporting leagues and tournaments come after governments are beginning to realise that the coronavirus is here to stay for quite some time and sports among other businesses will need to find a way to co-exist with it.

The virus has already infected more than 6 million people around the world while claiming over 3.6 lakh lives. There is still no sure shot treatment of the disease and social-distancing, self-isolation and maintenance of basic hand hygiene remain the only potent weapons of protecting oneself from contracting the infection.

(With inputs from IANS)