3 weeks ago
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Michael Vaughan has dubbed cricket as a ‘dinosaur game’ over its failure to introduce injury substitutes.
England veteran Chris Woakes was forced to come out to bat with his arm in a sling on the final day of the fifth Test against India, having dislocated his shoulder on the first day of the match.
In the previous Test of the series at Old Trafford, India wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant batted with a broken foot.
The International Cricket Council’s current guidelines only allow full substitutes for concussions.
For other injuries, teams are permitted to replace a player in the field, but subs cannot bowl or bat in the match.
Speaking on The Overlap and Betfair's Stick to Cricket show, former England captain Vaughan said: ‘We're a dinosaur game when we see people break a foot, dislocate their shoulder and you can't have a substitute. Come on. It devalues the product for the next few days.
Michael Vaughan claimed cricket is behind the times due to its lack of injury substitutions
Chris Woakes was forced to take to the crease with his arm in a sling during the final day of England's fifth Test with India
ICC regulations currently only permit substitutions in Test cricket if a player has sustained a concussion
‘It’s cost England the series because England got to within six runs of beating India with 10 players.’
Following the Oval Test, current England skipper Ben Stokes reiterated his opposition to the introduction of injury substitutes.
‘I don’t see it being a thing,’ said Stokes, who missed the series decider with his own shoulder injury. ‘I’m sorry to say this but if someone gets injured, tough s***. Deal with it. That’s how we view it.
‘I could have gone into this game knowing I had a sore shoulder saying I’ll give it a go, hopefully I come through, but if not I know I have someone who can come in and replace me.
‘I feel like there is room where you could manipulate it a little bit. The injury I did have ruled me out of this game. Maybe if we did have that option in a pretty big game in a series, maybe you’d think it was worth it. I am still heavily against it.’
However, Vaughan has hit back at Stokes and insists substitutes should be allowed for ‘clear and obvious’ injuries in the first innings of a match.
‘Stokes doesn’t decide,’ he said. ‘He can have his opinion. ‘For clear and obvious injuries, like a break of the bone or a dislocation, that’s where we are starting.
‘I am saying if it happens in the first innings, you can have a substitution. You can even say the sub cannot play until the second innings.’
Ben Stokes reiterated his opposition to the introduction of injury substitutes after the Oval Test
Vaughan also claimed that Ollie Pope is not a 'natural leader' and suggested Harry Brook should captain the team in Stokes' absence
Meanwhile, Vaughan has slammed the leadership of Ollie Pope, who stepped up from his role as vice-captain at the Oval in the absence of Stokes.
And he believes England’s white-ball captain Harry Brook should take the armband if Stokes is ruled out of any Test in the Ashes.
‘I think Ollie Pope is a brilliant vice-captain, but he is not a captain and by giving him the captaincy I can see it a mile off,’ said Vaughan, who led England to Ashes glory in 2005.
‘He is not a natural leader in the middle. We saw it last year against Sri Lanka and I have seen it again this week.
‘Just say we get to Perth and Ben can’t play, I can't have Ollie Pope walking out as skipper. But I can have Harry Brook because I see a natural leader.’
Another former England skipper Alastair Cook added: ‘I agree that I don't think that he should be captain in Perth - Harry Brook's done a really good job with the one-dayers.’
