Michael Vaughan says he he would punch ECB officials in the face

Michael Vaughan has hit out at his cricket board, ECB, for hampering England’s Ashes arrangements by scheduling T20s a week ahead of the Ashes. He said that said if an administrator had asked him to play T20 so close to the Ashes, he would have punched them in the face.

Vaughan, who was the captain of Ashes-winning team in 2005, is of the opinion that counties should be playing first-class matches ahead of the first Test at Trent Bridge next week to ensure all the fringe players of the England squad are in tune with Test cricket.

He said: ‘How our schedulers have not been able to produce a round of four-day matches leading into an Ashes series is beyond me.

‘If any administrator told me it’s worthwhile us playing Twenty20 now, England playing Essex and then Sussex play in a four-day game starting on Monday, I’d punch them in the face, because they are wrong.

‘Every county should be playing four-day cricket. What happens if we get five injuries this week?’

Vaughan also advised England fans to make home advantage count by getting on the nerves of the Australians.

He said: ‘In 2005 the crowd were our 12th man. They got to Justin Langer. He would field on the boundary and they gave him pelters.

‘And that’s to our advantage. I want 25,000 at Trent Bridge giving them pelters.’