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Michael Vaughanhas offered his perspective on England's white-ball cricket strategy and the recent appointment of Kevin Pietersen as specialist mentor to the team's T20I and ODI squads. Vaughan's comments come as England prepares for an upcoming series against Sri Lanka, which begins on September 15, 2026, in Southampton.
England's white-ball teams have shown strong recent form in international cricket. The team won 17 of their last 19 completed Twenty20 internationals and briefly held the world No.
1 ranking in July 2026. Additionally, England secured series victories over Sri Lanka and India in the one-day format during 2026.
"But his knowledge of batting, his knowledge of winning, his knowledge of playing at the right intensity at the right moments, there's no-one been better in my time playing for England. He'll add that," said Vaughan as quoted by Daily Mail.
"The intriguing part for me is how this works in terms of the different personalities in the backroom team. England have gone for a very powerful, famous backroom team. There are a few backroom teams that are doing really well around the world that I don't even know, just quietly coaching and going about their business," he added.
Test team also would have approached Pietersen: Vaughan
Pietersen brings coaching experience from his time with Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League and a brief stint assisting England's batters during an ODI series in South Africa in 2023. Since retiring from professional cricket in 2018, Pietersen has worked primarily as a broadcaster before taking on this new mentoring role. His return to the England setup represents a major shift in the team's approach to developing white-ball talent and strategic direction.
"No, I’m happy he’s back in English cricket because 2014 I always felt that Kev was dealt an iffy hand. Kev brings a lot of things on himself but there are many others who have done equally silly things and have been allowed back into English cricket," said Vaughan.
"I was actually surprised they’ve brought him into the white-ball set-up. I thought the Test team would have approached him. The white-ball team over the last year have been doing quite well. T20s, No.1 in the world. 50-over team, back on track. I would think that he will be having an influence on the batters in the white-ball team who play Test cricket," he added.
Australia wouldn't want to face Robinson: Vaughan
Vaughan also identified Ollie Robinsonas the bowler Australia will be most concerned about facing in next year’s Ashes. Robinson claimed 28 wickets in four Tests this summer at an average of under 10.
"It’s just so natural for Ollie Robinson. He just runs in and hits that length naturally. I guess we’re all sceptical of what it’ll look like in the winter when it’s a bit hotter (in South Africa) and he gets into his second, third and fourth spells, comes back the next day and bowls with the Kookaburra ball," said Vaughan.
"But here in the UK, I wouldn’t want to face him. And the Aussies will know next summer they’ll have to try and overcome him one of two ways. They’ll have to have someone who completely nullifies him technically to see him off or you go the risky game which is Travis Head at the top to try and whack him out of his length. I’ll be intrigued to see which way they go," he added.
