Joe Root: Thrilling India Series & Hunting Ashes Glory Down Under | Stick to Cricket EP 12

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1:30Michael Vaughan: You all good? Joseph? Beautiful. Your centre-half.

1:35Sir Alastair Cook: Here we go.

1:36Michael Vaughan: You want a biscuit?

1:37Sir Alastair Cook: You've got a label on some of this. Hey, what do you want? Is it still on? Where do you need that? Where do you need that from, Tom? What's a nice bit of kit? Who makes these? You stealing shirts? Are you stealing shirts? Is our football sponsor? Oh, is it? Kieran, have you met Joe? Joe, Kieran, Liverpool fan. Yeah.

1:57Michael Vaughan: He's got them fancy glasses on, they're filming one.

1:59Sir Alastair Cook: all right here and come they're not filming now they could be dangerous though couldn't they are they allowed could get loads of trouble wearing them really well you know filming filming in pubs

2:12Michael Vaughan: and all well can i have another brew of course it's coming yeah i'll have one do you want to

2:16Sir Alastair Cook: cover tea joe yes please mate yeah lovely tea coffee joe it'd be lovely he's on tea you're going for the uh not a coffee man gone for the sweater today dave yeah yeah it's just like isn't

2:28Michael Vaughan: it yeah you come for the trends same fashion in it is in his 30s now he still looks about 15 but yeah yeah what might you go hey what you got in your bag i was always starting the allotment quiz

2:47Phil Tufnell: is he what do you mean well he's our guest in this so he has to go through the allotment quiz all right you know i've got an allotment don't you well yeah there's one general knowledge for you Joe there's one general knowledge question and then four on your specialist subject which we could tell you is fruit and veg right okay so your general knowledge question I've got written down here Wild Bill Hickok you remember Wild Bill Hickok well he was a legendary Wild West cowboy and he came to a very sad end and your question for you is he came to a sad end did he shit himself before he shot himself, or did he shoot himself before he shit himself?

3:31Phil Tufnell: Which do you think it is? I'm pushing you for an answer. No, it's B. He shot himself before he shit himself. So, moving on, this is your specialist subject. When a batsman is out for naught in each innings what is that called he's got a pair just a minute there that's your prize you've grown those yeah yeah no maggots what a day keeps the doctor away an apple an apple let's have a look There we are. There's your apple. Very nice. There's no way in a million years. You've been to the old crisis. I'm a big lady there. I can 100 % guarantee there's from our allotment. Now then, on to Graham. Graham, listen carefully to this one.

4:34Phil Tufnell: Opening bowler for Durham and England. Onions. Onions. Let's have a look. There he is. There's an onion. You can check that back all the way to Sheffield. Chris Old, we're going on to Yorkshire, we've got Yorkshire. Chris Old's nickname. Mmm. Chris Old. Chilly. Let's have a look. Here we are, have a look at that one. No, my God. No way. Be careful with that, that's a proper body burner, that is. That is a real body burner. And if you get on the pan, strap yourself in after one of them, they are lethal. Now then, and the last one, when a batsman is out LBW you and it's stone dead and you say he's absolutely plum plum now we have no plums so the bonus is that you should be given a batter like joe yeah there we are like give this to the staff if anybody wants an apple or a pair there's not many takers dave there's some golden delicious and some granny smiths all from the allotment lovely good anyway moving on yeah lovely love

5:40Sir Alastair Cook: Love that, Bob. Love that. That chilli's an absolute leaf. Absolutely. Madras style. Yeah. Had some beetroot as well, but very good for you.

5:48Michael Vaughan: I like your chilli for the margaritas. Yeah. Might take that chilli, actually.

5:52Phil Tufnell: I'll bring you some more next week. I've got a couple more. Have you? Yeah, but take that. Take that. Unless Joe wants it. He'd be good in a curry, that, wouldn't he? Absolutely. It's a steamer, though. It really is. I forgot what the name of him is. Scotch bonnet. That's it. That's it.

6:09Michael Vaughan: That's it you got it What we all been up to this week Joe's been scoring another hundred yeah, sir Alistair Where have you been listening to yourself Coldplay? I went to Coldplay on give over how was it? When did you play at Lord's Thursday? I watched the afternoon at Lord's then went to good You put those wristbands on you know with the lights.

6:28Phil Tufnell: Yes, so what's Genre music is Coldplay. What is it? Is it ballady?

6:34Sir Alastair Cook: He does a bit of both. I think it's light rock Light Rock? Would it be called Light Rock or something? I don't know if it's called Rock. But you get all the, honestly, the different colours and it's a good show. I was meant to be going actually on yesterday, well, Monday night, but then the tube strike got on the way so they cancelled. Moved it to Friday and I can't go on Friday, so... Oh, that's disappointing. Yeah, it is a little bit. You're not playing, are you, is it? No, not playing, doing a little fundraiser for my brother-in-law's...

7:00Michael Vaughan: Charity? ..the cricket club, Stukley Cricket Club. We had a night in London actually for Nick Brown's testimonial. Oh, yeah. You were going strong. They took me to the cleaners. I smoked on to that. The Essex crew. Did they take you out? Oh, yes. Snater. Snater. Georgie Best. What? Oh, yeah. Well, they call him Georgie Best. I realised after about five hours with him, I was like, Jesus. Yeah. Cookie. He was there. Not you, Cookie. The other Cookie. Sam. Yeah. But you weren't working the next day, were you? So I had a good excuse just to...

7:33Sir Alastair Cook: I was going to Coldplay. We was on the Stellas with vodka tots. It was an interesting drink, that. Or was I the only one? Did they stitch me up? LAUGHTER What were they?

7:49Phil Tufnell: The Stellas Shandies. The Stellas Shandies. What were they? At Lourdes, when we were in that hotel opposite Lourdes and Simon Jones went to the bar and come back with a tray full of stuff that were on fire. Yes, I know.

8:02Sir Alastair Cook: Flaming Zambucas.

8:04Phil Tufnell: Yeah, they were flaming at all. So he, it's on them sofas, he fell off the sofa and burst into tears. I thought you were going to say burst into flames.

8:15Phil Tufnell: He'd just come back with all this tray full of things. It's the modern game.

8:20Sir Alastair Cook: I'll tell you what I've been doing, I played Alan Brazile's Golf Day. And on the 17th par three, instead of beat the pro, it was beat the cat. Beat the cat. You were the pro? Yeah, I played nicely. Not with those Lynx clubs you've got. No, I've got... Or the head... The head... The warmers on there. No, no. He's a good golfer. You've not got head covers on you? No, no. No, I haven't got head covers. Heated covers, yeah. Heated.

8:43Phil Tufnell: What's he play off? Seven, eight? Seven.

8:45Sir Alastair Cook: Oh, good lad. Strong.

8:47Phil Tufnell: I used to be seven. I'm 12 now, but he's as good as... You've got a good tip off of Westwood, didn't you? He used to be seven a long time ago. Who? Westwood. Didn't he give you a good tip once? No, who is he giving me a good tip? Get rid of all your clubs. Paul Laurie Paul Laurie get rid of all your clubs round the greens is he chipping and putting terrible offer they do play a lot of golf who's your top golfer in the current set up top golfer Brookie went round Hollingwell a four under not long back four under a lot of bunkers there four under yeah he's told us about it every day since you know that beat the pro so you're talking about Nick Brown we did that thing for that question of sport night he did that as well like on the on the green, on the tee.

9:32But if he got it inside, if he beat them, the foreball would have to do a pint. If they beat him, he would have to do a pint. Obviously, there was 20 groups. And he's not very good. No, he's not the best, all right. 20? He wasn't by the end. I think he was steady to start with, but obviously towards the end, when you're six or seven down, hitting 150 green. It's quite hard work.

9:55Michael Vaughan: He said he played.

9:57Sir Alastair Cook: Just show us your swing. I had 24 shots at the same hole. How far was it? 1-4-8, a little bit of hurt. 9-9? 9-9? A little bit of hurt. Well, no, I started off with a 9-9. What is he coming at? This is travelling day, mate. It's travelling. 9-9? What did you play off, Cat? By the end of the day, I was on a 6-iron. I was getting tired. I got a bit tired. What's his handicap, the cat? Mine? 18. He's better than that. Yeah. Better than I. there you go dancing around the flag mate the first couple not so good so what did they get if they beat you oh they they uh they didn't have to pay 20 quid towards charity but everyone paid

10:42Michael Vaughan: anyway right yeah hey i saw you on uh social you were at hedonley yesterday what was that

10:48Phil Tufnell: doing the voiceover for the 2026 international tickets i didn't think they had any there last next year well I did it yeah yeah it's England Pakistan Sri Lanka I can remember the script and it was walking cricket what four games of walking cricket on heading Lee and and they were how do they get you in the wickets well you can run between the wickets you can that's it yeah but the field is after you have to walk and it got a bit he got a bit heated yeah about the run up to

11:22Michael Vaughan: ball is it a walk up to ball well they didn't go very far just walking and yeah yeah there was so

11:28Phil Tufnell: you could tell that they'd all played they'd all played and it were mixed male and female teams right and you it was a gorgeous day hard ball no like a not a wind ball incredible a soft yeah we have a seam on it yeah a little one and um compound ball but it was lovely yeah you could they'd all played male and female gorgeous there can we could play that now walking cricket

11:51Michael Vaughan: walking in the field I've seen walking football have you seen that walking for I've seen that yeah my brother-in-law's got Parkinson's and he

11:59Phil Tufnell: plays walking football does it yeah but he's got sent off because I think I did that when he got sent off because he was complaining that they were running you

12:08Sir Alastair Cook: had a chair when they're getting off really yeah walking never start should Shall we start the show? Do you walk? Do you walk, Joe? You kind of have to now, don't you? Do you? Well, everyone can see, can't they?

12:20Michael Vaughan: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's all changed. There's no point. Shall we start the show, lads? No point not. You've got to go soon. Come on, let's start the show. Before we get started, I'd like to thank our partners, Betfair. So just hit subscribe so you don't miss an episode. Enjoy the show.

12:41Phil Tufnell: There's only 20 yards, are we? Show, don't you? It's quick. Really quick. You're just dealing with the pressure of expectation a bit more. Am I good enough to actually be here? Do you not wear the box in the slips? No.

12:54Sir Alastair Cook: Should you not? How do you know, Skipper, you never were there? I used to wear a box at my don. Are you the only captain to have dropped, Joe? Yeah. One of my heroes growing up stood at the other end and I just could not stop smiling. That's how I remember. I was having the best time. Look, he's got it. He's got it.

13:15Michael Vaughan: Will Sheffield Wednesday finish higher than Sheffield United this year? Will Sheffield Wednesday finish this year? That's a blow.

13:29Michael Vaughan: Joe, thanks for coming on. Thanks for having me. Great to have you on. You can help yourself to any of these delights in front of you. Sunday's game, should we start with that? Nice. Special. Another one. I was telling the lads in the green room, there's a picture of you and Jacob Bethel doing the rounds of you in Barbados. Were you there with Yorkshire? With England. With England. And he would have been how old? Ten I reckon. Ten? And I remember you coming back and told a few people that you've seen the next big thing. I tried to get Yorkshire to sign him when he got to about 12, 13. I was like, you need to get...

14:01And obviously he went to rugby school and was with Warwickshire. But yeah, I saw him. I remember we played a one day at Bridgetown and then stayed on for a little break afterwards with the family. And obviously my dad and his dad played together in club cricket for 10 years or so. So we caught with them and just so happened he was playing an under-12s game. Got 100 off 20 overs. I mean, he was half the size of everyone else. Played beautifully. And then I remember going back to theirs for some food and a few drinks. And he's knocking a ball on a string over the pool, playing all his shots. and he disappears off into the front room, whatever, go to the toilet and check on him, see how he's getting on, and he's watching grand designs at 10 years old.

14:44He's just an old soul at a young age, and you can see with his maturity and the way he plays now, he's well beyond his years. But, yeah.

14:54Sir Alastair Cook: What made you say that, then, Joe? What? He's 10. He just had everything. He had all the shots. Even though he might not have had the power, Yeah, he could take the ball. Is he a Yorker? Is he a Yorker lad?

15:08Phil Tufnell: No, he's from Barbados. No, but you said his dad played with Yorker. His dad came over. His dad captain me. Yeah.

15:13Michael Vaughan: So in the late 80s, I played for Sheffield Collegiate. So he wasn't born in Yorker then? No, so what happened in the 80s, and I don't know if I'm a member of the year, Graeme, his dad, came over to play cricket and he ended up playing a few games for Derbyshire too, so he was trying to make a go of it. And then he captained Sheffield Collegiate and he was my captain in the first team. Right. And he was a proper Caribbean player, Graham. He used to dance down, try and whack it, play all the shots. So absolutely no surprise to me that Jacob's got the gift to play shots. It was actually, it was probably like watching my dad and his dad play.

15:46There's one guy stodging around getting one and then the other fella smacking it to all parts.

15:50Michael Vaughan: What was it like? So you're right at the minute. It's an amazing story that you think that you go back to when he was 10. You're now in the middle when he gets his first 100 in professional cricket. What's it like to kind of, I mean, I'm not saying you're old at all, but did you feel old that you're out in the middle of the decade? Absolutely, yeah. Like you say, you see him at 10 years old and then you see what he's achieved already in two years or three years of professional cricket. Won an IPL, about to captain England. Got his first international 100. Has looked assured when he's played test cricket.

16:22Has batted in a number of different positions. Already had to contend with a lot of things. but he seems to just shoulder everything so well. Yeah, so it's so impressive. It's really cool as well that, yeah, you know, you've got that sort of connection with someone that's so much younger than you when they come into the team and I think he's going to be a great player.

16:43Michael Vaughan: What's the conversation like out in the middle? It's all right, yeah. He's pretty chilled. He's a very relaxed character. So, yeah.

16:52Phil Tufnell: Go on, what do you guys talk about? Yeah, exactly. In the middle. I've never been out there long enough to have a chat. It's too long ago that I played. You know, Barry Wood, Clive Lloyd, Farouk Engineer. What did you talk about? I can't remember. What do you talk about now? Because there's a lot of get-togethers, which I get real shitty about, about all these getting together. Get down the other end. There's an umpire. Where are you going? Stand here. At the end of the over, you go down and have a chat. What do you talk about? Well on Sunday we ran about 402 so it was trying to get your breath back more than anything.

17:32But with most of the time you talk a little bit about the surface or the situation at the game and the rest of the time you're just trying to relax.

17:38Phil Tufnell: Again I can't, he's stood up there and he's like phew, he's come down swinging, I fucking know it is yeah. You don't have to tell me it's swinging I know it's nipping around I know. He's just bowling off, yeah I know, I know he's just bowling off Cutter. watching so you so you would like the batters never to never to be in the middle I don't see the point what are you doing do you want to bring a role that the batters have to stay at their end there's nothing wrong with that nothing wrong you can show there's only 20 yards of it

18:15yeah it's quick really quick here cut give us one of them give us water yeah

18:21Sir Alastair Cook: Well done. Keep going, son. Keep going. Keep going. I think he's bowling off his hand legs. What did you used to talk about? I was never out there long enough, really. The one time I did get a 50, I really did enjoy it, though. I think I got one or two.

18:36Michael Vaughan: Check on that, please.

18:37Sir Alastair Cook: Yeah, I think I got a 49 and a 50. I got a 50 and I was batting with Nashy. Do you remember little David Nash? Little Nashy. Oh, we had a good time. We was looking at all the bowlers going, I've got you, I've got you, because they were hating it. I was stepping away and smashing them. I could see the fear in their eyes. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so I wasn't actually talking to Nashie. I was looking at all the bowlers, sort of going...

19:00Phil Tufnell: You perfected that step away, didn't you? Well, I cleared the front leg.

19:04Sir Alastair Cook: I cleared the front... I was one of the first to clear the front leg. And the back leg.

19:10Phil Tufnell: Atherton's captain were in West Indies, so they got Ambrose and Walsh. So up it goes, they come back in. I'll quote him in a second. What we're doing, Skip, we're batting. to which he said, oh, he'll fucking kill me. We haven't even gone out there.

19:26Sir Alastair Cook: I wrote a will. I wrote a will.

19:28Phil Tufnell: I did.

19:29Sir Alastair Cook: I wrote a will. What, there and then? No, no, no. On my first trip to Westgate. No, you didn't. Yeah, no, I did. Yeah, wrote a will. Leaving it all to people and everything. But then posted it off as I got on the plane. I thought they were going to kill me.

19:42Michael Vaughan: Rudy, what was it like playing under Sir Alistair?

19:44Sir Alastair Cook: Yeah, it was good.

19:45Michael Vaughan: Yeah. That's to say, didn't you? Did you respect him? Massively respected him, yeah. Kieran just give us that iPad. Just got a clip here that I'd like you to see. I know what's coming here. You want to just watch this. It hurt this didn't it? Where's Plan? There you are. Oh, I see the nuts. I checked, look, if you see there, I checked to see if he's alright first. So a little group. Alice has taken one in the crown jewels. And Joe, look at your reaction. It was the noises he was coming out with that was funny. What were they? Were they... Ball that gym. It was like one of the sheep on his farm.

20:23Oh!

20:25Sir Alastair Cook: That's the left one, isn't it? You can twist them and you can get in a bit of trouble. You've got to be careful if they get twisted. I know a couple of boys who've had that. Should have been playing forward there, shouldn't they? It was a full delivery. Look at the face. The thing is, it bites you there. It bites you. A few actually series later, I reckon I got four in the nuts.

20:47Phil Tufnell: Jimmy wouldn't have been smiling, would he? Jimmy well it wasn't too bad because it didn't go it didn't carry I didn't carry no I had a go at us for being too deep and then right yeah to not wear the box

20:57Sir Alastair Cook: in the slips no no no should you not once in a book good point I mean I stood 20

21:10Phil Tufnell: years at short leg nothing on no pop why why I never got a chance at short leg in 20 years.

21:18Michael Vaughan: They didn't hit it hard enough.

21:19Phil Tufnell: Of course they did. Sweep, sweep, sweep forever. Yeah? Yeah. No helmet, no pads. It must have been it. You get it.

21:27Sir Alastair Cook: No helmet. Bring me a helmet. Bring me some shoes and pads. Used to put the old soap dish, first thing I used to put on, the old soap dish. What, in the field? Yeah, used to empty the old fags out and then put the soap on. Then the lid, then the lid, then the chesty. Never wore out. I think I played in your first ever a List A game, didn't I? Was that your first? Yeah, that's right. So we played Essex versus Yorkshire. Was it the last game of the season? Last game of the season. Essex had just got promoted. So we weren't... We had a few the night before. Anyway, Joe Root opened the bank. Who's this?

22:05Who's this kid? I think... Ripper slapper. Yeah, I mean, you couldn't be more than 17, could you? Were you 17? I think I was 18, yeah. Anyway, he played beautifully but couldn't get the ball off the square. So actually kept him in nicely. I lost us the game that day. He won us our game. Anyway, you caught me out. Did you catch it? Yeah, I think so. Did it carry? It carried, yeah. No, he dropped. He dropped it and then claimed it. Oh, did you? No, I caught it. I rolled up my arms here and then back into my... Onto the floor? I couldn't tell if it hit the floor.

22:31Phil Tufnell: It was close enough. You did five years later, remember? You've been serving that up, haven't you? Just to wind you up. You've been serving that up. He's been serving that up. You should have hit it on the floor, shouldn't you?

22:42Sir Alastair Cook: Well, I couldn't. That was the biggest hit I got. And another thing I think, were you the only... Are you the only captain to have dropped, Joe? Yeah. I've done some good things in my time. Dropping England's best ever batsman. Best ever. I'm now going to twist it like Rooty's twisting that cat that I made in the player he was because I dropped him for that one day.

23:05Michael Vaughan: You reckon you kind of drove the hunger? Yeah. We left him out of Sydney that last... Who did you play instead of him?

23:11Phil Tufnell: It was a good one to miss to me. Gary Balance.

23:13Michael Vaughan: Oh, well, good player. Good player, Gary Balance. That team, was that the game that Boyd Rankin played? Yeah. Did Borthwick play? Yeah. What?

23:23Sir Alastair Cook: He's a good player. No, he's a very good player. Why are you laughing? Well, no, I'm just... It seems like you might have been scrabbling about a little bit by that stage. The long tour. The wheels had well and truly fallen off, but, yeah, we left... Actually, to be fair, it was Andy, who was Andy's last game in charge, Andy Flat, and he just like, I think, let's take him out of the firing line. I think both of us knew this was just get through this game. We're not going to win it. Obviously, you can't say that to each other or anything. We'll just take him out. And then I'm going to say that it fuelled him to realise how important playing for England was.

23:56In his next game, what do you get? 200. So that's why I'm taking now. I'm twisting it round and taking some credit, but I can't take any credit. Good man management at that bumble.

24:08Phil Tufnell: He was a good player, that Gary Hart.

24:09Michael Vaughan: Is there anyone? I look back at my cabinet side and I look. I mean Ashley Giles did a good job for us. I look back and think, we should have brought Graeme Swan in earlier. Graeme took a few years to come into the England side, probably when Peter Moores got the job. Well, 2008 was his... Peter Moores kind of...

24:25Phil Tufnell: Didn't Derren Gough give him a smack in the labs? Yeah, that was in South Africa.

24:28Michael Vaughan: Santon Sun Hotel. South Africa. My first tour. Yeah.

24:32Phil Tufnell: Was that 1999?

24:33Michael Vaughan: 1999. Yeah, my last tour. It was hell of a crack. It was hell of a crack. Hey, you were in the bar.

24:37Sir Alastair Cook: That was a tour where I didn't see you eat anything but nuts. Well, there you go. I had to save me per diem.

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25:58Michael Vaughan: Victor Cricket is brought to you by Betfair. Have you ever dropped anyone or not brought someone into your team when you were captain? Both of you, let you think, I wish I'd have done that. That's a good question. There's probably a number. It's hard to think off the spot. I mean, you could see how good Brookie was going to be a long way out. Do you think Brookie would have played earlier under this regime? Yeah. Also, there was a couple of years at Yorkshire where he was opening the batting out position. They all knew that. They were trying to find a way of getting him into the team. and you could see the talent.

26:40I mean, he played in a game at Essex where we were bowled out for 40 before lunch and then second innings he gets 100 and he's hitting Simon Armour over the offside. It was through the he had the ability to go through and over the offside against Armour on a turning wicket which I'd never seen any. I think Sanger Khar obviously played Simon unbelievably well. He was the first Englishman to have like, I saw, I was like, Jesus, that's, you know, we used to, Chancellor used to spin and nip. I don't quite know how the grounds I did it but it's beautiful and he just he actually made harm he had no answers to it we actually bowled that day we bowled Yorkshire out too early bowled that for 40 but if they'd have got like 70 or 80 the pitch started to calm down a bit we still had it nipping around and then you guys whacked us everywhere and Johnny Bairstow opened yeah good done in two days good in two days good in two days beautiful got another

27:28Phil Tufnell: got another coming Yorkshire Bennison Bennison going to be a top player he is can play as a kid it's a barns he called Smith

27:36Michael Vaughan: yeah yeah yeah I think he's a player no there's some good talent around the country there is unbelievable really good what about me you both played and kept in the combination I have as art our best in my time watching and commentating on England Broad and Anderson I mean you know in the side without them how's that transition been without them been good I remember having

28:03I remember that, just to go back to that, I remember when Cookie stepped down as captain and rang him for a bit of advice and he's like, to be honest, I didn't want to be the one to call time on Jimmy and Brodie. They both outlived me a lot of miles. They both outlived us both. So, but yeah, the incredible, the longevity, the ability to do what they did for so long was awesome. but it's given the team an opportunity to look at doing things slightly differently, have a different makeup, have a different balance to things and obviously with what we've got coming up, I think the guys that have come in, they've all got those attributes that you know serve you very well in Australian condition so it's an exciting time for the group and it's a nice opportunity for guys coming through to see actually there's more than one way to go and do it even if you're an English seamer you don't have to have just these attributes you can offer something completely different and they were unbelievable do you mean unbelievable and it was a pleasure like if on days where it was nipping around or you won the toss and bowl and it was the right decision you know like you had none of this like doubt they were going to hit the length they were unbelievable what made them what made them so good is obviously what made them could be quite hard to captain at times because they were stubborn, they were forthright in their opinions, but isn't that what you want?

29:32That's what separated them from being just good bowlers. They were great bowlers and their mindset was probably different to certain other bowlers, but it was certainly a challenge at times. Grumpy, very grumpy. At times, yeah, but not as much as you think. They had moments.

29:48Sir Alastair Cook: Most greats are a bit grumpy. Exactly, they're allowed to be. If you'd fielded 3 ,000. Yeah, not really right at all.

29:54Michael Vaughan: The last few years, though, they seem to have mellowed. From looking from outside, they looked to me like they absolutely adored playing under Brendan McCollum. I think so, yeah. And I think the way that they bought into a completely new way of doing things was quite impressive for the points that they were in their career, having to look at the game slightly differently, having had so much success doing it a certain way for a long time and being two of the best bowlers in the world throughout that period to then switch your mentality and sort of think, well, this is slightly different, but this is what we need to do now and this is how we're going to go forward as a team and as senior players need to buy into this because it's only going to work if we're all on the same page here.

30:45So, yeah, it was good.

30:47Sir Alastair Cook: Yeah, it looks, you just said there, a completely different way of doing things under Baz. You look like you love playing in this England team as well. I do, yeah. And one of the great things that I've enjoyed over the last three and a bit years or whatever it is that Baz has been involved is he's completely opened my eyes up to looking at the game differently. For a long time in my career, I was very technically minded and I looked at the game through am I in good positions, am I trigger right, am I lining things up well? Whereas he, I remember having a conversation with him about I can't remember which seamer it was, but he's quite challenging.

31:24He's always this length. I said, I should make it easier for you then. You know where the ball's going to be. Why don't you just change where you stand? I was like, well, one of his great strengths is bringing the tactical side of the game to the fore and making sure that when you're out there, you've given yourself options, not solely based on technique, but you're looking at how to problem solve and you're looking at finding ways of creating angles or can you change the rhythm of the game by making calculated risks at the right time, being able to put certain bowls under pressure which might bring another bowler back earlier than they want to and just looking at the game from a completely different angle to how I've always seen it and I think it's really opened my mind up and I've benefited hugely from it.

32:10Phil Tufnell: Joe, for young viewers, for youngsters, young cricketers, male and female, you're a bat at four. Talk us through an international game and it's a full stadium. What are you thinking about at number four? Watching things go on, are you apprehensive? Do you watch the game? What's your thoughts? Do you get anxious or is it just real calm? No, I think regardless of what stage you are at your career, there's always pressure. I think it just shifts. So it might be the start of your career, am I good enough to actually be here once you've played a little while can I continue to keep performing now they've got a bit more information on me and then the more senior you become you're just dealing with the pressure of expectation a bit more can you be consistent and can you find ways of continually improving and contributing but in terms of my preparation it would be making sure that I feel good in the days leading into the game morning of the game might have a few hits, I might just have some taps on the outfield.

33:16And then, way into back, you're just trying to weigh up all of the information. So you're taking in the surface, the conditions, the opposition, what they're like to throw at you. And then put the kettle on, watch the lads go out and do their thing at the top of the order, and when it's your time, have a good gauge of where the game's at, what the situation is.

33:33Phil Tufnell: So, again, I mean, for you as well, is it sort of breathing important? You know, you've got to stay alive, mate. You know what I mean? You've got to stay level, haven't you? You can't get over-anxious. It's your turn, number four. Because there are some batters. If you're at the non-striking end and you're watching somebody who's all over the place, does that go into you? Christ, he's making it look so difficult. We can do that as commentators. This guy's making it look so difficult. I think I did that for Rooty, I reckon. You were always calm, though. You were quite happy with making it look difficult.

34:09That's all I could do. I was trying to make it look as good as I could. I think you can overcomplicate it as well. I do. Certainly when you get onto academies and the professionalism of it, you say, well, you've got to have a pre-match routine. Well, you do, but you need to suit yourself. Some people, a pre-match routine could be the worst thing they need to do. For some people, you've got to work out what suits you. And ultimately, I think, I don't want to take words out of our guests and the best batter ever in England to say that actually it's ultimately about just watching that ball. So you talk about breathing and all that stuff.

34:42Well, just try and forget about that. Just watch the ball and just react and trust yourself that you'll be OK. And if you're good enough, you'll score runs. If you're not, you won't.

34:50Phil Tufnell: The Australian coach who's just died recently, Bob Simpson, he had it in a nutshell, really. He said, when you start at 18, 19-year-old and you get in a test team, you're selected at number four and number five, when it's your turn, you just go out and back. That's it. He said, 10 years on, when you're 29, you're looking at the pitch. Is there any moisture in it? Which way is the wind blowing? What's the clouds like? He said, it's the same game as when you were 18, 19. Pick your bat up and it's your turn. So you can overcomplicate it. We would see it time and time again where the players go out and they're assessing the pitch, how many moisture it is.

35:29Phil Tufnell: You can just ask the groundsman, he'll tell you what percentage of moisture is in the pitch. You know what the clouds are like.

35:34Sir Alastair Cook: I think these boys, as Joe then said, I think these boys now don't perhaps do that quite so much now. You kind of go out there... Just go play. Yeah, and I think that's what they're doing a bit more now. I was going to ask you, how do you make it look so simple?

35:51Michael Vaughan: And honestly, we're all on commentary now, and I reckon within six to eight balls... No, you've got binned, sorry. I think you should be, but you're not. Travesty. I think within six to eight balls, bizarrely, I can watch you now and I go, yeah, he's all right. So quickly. And you make batting look so easy. I know it's probably a question you get asked a lot. How the hell do you do that? In terms of how I bat, it's generally a case of, as Cookie said, keeping it dead simple of watching the ball as much as you can and trying to play it late. Take it as late as you can. The later you play it, the more control you're going to have.

36:32but like we talked about preparation some days you wake up and everything feels great your body feels good you've seen the ball nice and early picking length early other days it feels like a real struggle and you might have to make a little bit of a play early and try and get things more in your favor but again that comes with experience understanding your own game understanding yourself you're walking out there knowing like everything's in my favor today other days when it's not and going well how can I flip that how can I make sure that you know if it is a challenging seeming wicket um can I take Elby and bold out of the game or how do you do that get out your crease get across onto the offside um and understand that if he rips your outside edge off you've got to sort of be at peace with that but I've made a play to try and bring things into my favour if I can get one more on the leg side get mid wicket in or get him to bowl a little bit wider I might get cut away, change his length, be busy, try and bat at the other end.

37:26It's always easier when you're stood at the other end. Absolutely. But that's also like, Joe probably plays his batting down to almost, I've never heard him ever say, oh, you just do that, keep it simple. What he won't tell you, and I've seen it, is I've never seen someone, like, he's just said there about, oh, I'll try and get a cutaway or I'll try and get an eye on the leg side. That's not just on the day he's done that. I've never seen someone in the net bat as well and as long as Joe doing all that. So if you're like Nathan Lehman used to flick us and he just said just go and watch him. He never misses the middle of his bat and he's always problem solving all the time.

38:02So he's always playing that scenario out in the net. So then when he does go in the middle he's got the talent and the ability and the technique to be able to do it. So like it's a well and good saying to someone they're doing this, we're going to move the legs. It's practice for years to be able to do it. It's a skill required and I think I'm putting that down, two things, he practised more than anyone else and also he's one of the game's best problem solvers, batter's problem solvers, finding solutions to bowlers. Like he would never have had the same problem I had of, you know, like Mourney Morkle, keep getting me out.

38:32I couldn't solve that problem but he would have found a way of solving that problem.

38:35Sir Alastair Cook: Is that during the game or the night beforehand or is that just ticking in your brain? I think it's always. Just always. Like whether it's a couple of months out in a series and you might be playing in a different one, but you've got an eye on the conditions, what you might need to be doing. Scenarios that are going to come your way. And let's be honest, international cricket, if you play it for a period of time, you play against the same guys a lot. So you know what to expect. You know how they're going to operate. And if they've got you out a couple of times in a certain way, you know how they're going to try and get you out again.

39:05Phil Tufnell: George, this India series, it was a fantastic series. Does the team think it's just got away from them, that they should have actually won that series, finished up 2-2 yeah it was a tough series it was a very tough series great series it was great to play in they are good players they've got very good and they're always going to they've produced so many brilliant players now across formats but to lose I think it sort of went under the radar to lose the experience and the quality in Rowett and Virat going into a series abroad in those conditions where they've both had success and then still to perform as well as they did was really impressive and for Shubman Gill, first series as captain, I thought not only did he bat well, but I think he led pretty well as well.

39:51Ashwin as well. Managed different things. Yeah, Ashwin too. He might not have had the impact in England that he has in other places in the world, but he's still a very experienced player. But no, I thought it was thrilling to play in. You're playing against a high-quality team. All the games going five days. They tested you in different ways to how you, not only skill-wise, but mentally being able to, physically being able to call on those reserves and understand what's required, how you're going to wrestle momentum back in your favour. Everything seemed to go one way than the other. And it was pretty frustrating.

40:26Me and Brookie had that partnership in the last game. We should have got us home, really. It was a great series. It was a great series, yeah.

40:35Michael Vaughan: Stick to Cricket is brought to you by Betfair. Joe, over your career, you've played the little scoopy roops over the upside as well. You played it first ball of the last Ashes series again.

40:52Sir Alastair Cook: Jesus, and then he fell off my chair.

40:53Michael Vaughan: Phil was on commentary. I don't know if you've watched the show, but Phil's our expert in the batting department. Can you teach Phil over there how to play? I want to see him play it on his own. Phil, you get the bat. What am I playing? You tell Joe Root what you...

41:07Phil Tufnell: When he bought little balls, he can't use them. We've got apples and pears.

41:14Michael Vaughan: So this is from the Phil Tufnell way of playing the scoop. I've got a few good players here. Phil, not the Josh Butler ramp over the onside. It's the Joe Root... What do we call it? Reverse scoop. Scoop. It's the Root scoop. The Root scoop over the... So we've got a slip cordon. Someone's going to bowl... Phil, someone's going to bowl 88 to 90 miles an hour. Pat Cummins. How do you play the root scoop?

41:36Sir Alastair Cook: Well, for a start-off, I think it must be premeditated. Just slightly. Well, there you go. You said you'd premeditated it as you walked out, hadn't you? In the dressing room before. In the dressing room? I sat with Brodie, I was sat with Popey. Me and him were batting at the time. Brodie was sat there and said, I feel like in the conditions that we had, it was very overcast. It was seeming about the night before. We'd gone off for rain, so we'd finished early, I think. but i must have faced nine balls and not got near one of them yeah scott ball and kept hitting me on the thigh and playing this so i'm going to try and create a little bit of chaos early on and try and wrestle momentum back and i'll never get them away don't let them at any point feel like they can own the top of our stump yeah i said to popey and to broadley i think i'm going to reverse scoop first ball and they sort of like started laughing um and i was like no i'm actually serious and it's like yeah okay sure if you want to do it do it um walked out and then i sort of started backing out of it going if he has a mid wicket i'm not going to do it all right but if he has if he doesn't have a mid wicket has an extra slip yeah the likelihood is the line he's going to bowl is going to be four stump yeah um bold and lb aren't really in the game so much so i've only got to beat the slips and then it's you know we're away and as he's at the top of his mark he had a mid-wicky in and he moved into four slip and I thought my heart started pounding I can't back out of this now so went for it and missed it by a foot I reckon but it sort of in a way it did its job because the whole crowd went through it was one of the most talked about dot balls ever absolutely as I said we were I was I was first on there I virtually fell off my chair I was standing up go what are you doing what are you doing england were 28 for two at the time yeah it was a hell of a ever a gutsy move yeah but you don't play shots to get out you know you know as you're as you're running anything oh i'm going to get out here i think this is going for four or six or you know i'm playing this shot because it's going to help us out what what what you've got to tell us how to play it how would you play it well what what not it's 85 90 out there as you said fourth stump Well, as Joe's just alluded to, I've looked around at the field and I've decided to try and take him off his mark, you know, take him off his line and length.

43:53Sir Alastair Cook: There you go. And so it's there. And then it's that one, isn't it? Over she goes. Something like that. I always... You've got to try and clear that front leg. Yes. You know what I mean? Because if you go there, you're struggling. You know what I mean? You've got to, as you say, trigger. Trigger.

44:11Michael Vaughan: You've got to get square off, Phil, haven't you? You're in all the fools and horses.

44:15Sir Alastair Cook: You've got to get low. And it's a flick of the... I think it's more of a frying pan than a scoop, perhaps.

44:21Michael Vaughan: Joe, can you actually show us how to play it? I can. Phil, just stand aside and let Joe show us the proper way. All you're trying to do, really, is get underneath the length of the ball. Oh, shit, sorry. Sorry about that. It's not one of them government alarms. No, it's not. So all you're doing is you're trying to get down low in a position where you're pretty much chest on with the bowler. That's how I would play it. And then you're watching the bounce and he's almost trying to come up with the right and you're using the pace of the ball You don't have to hit it just know so just get a glide on it get a guide on it.

44:50Sir Alastair Cook: Yeah. Yeah Oh, you weren't far off far off there So it's there back across almost square. Yes. Yeah low. Yeah, and then That's it. Just lift it don't whack it. No just just go with it time Did they say anything after that? I think for a ball they were just a little bit shocked but then they, yeah, there's a little bit. But I mean, you don't really get much sledge in anymore anyway. You can hear it all through the stump mics.

45:23Michael Vaughan: I must admit, Dave, this win through in Oz, it's going to be a, I'm not saying that the England side are going to play it on an over-by-over-bake but you'll play it, some of your players will play that stroke. I can't wait to see the Australian crowd reaction because it will go for four on a few occasions and it will get a man down to third.

45:39Phil Tufnell: Well, we're working with their people. It will happen.

45:43Michael Vaughan: I saw a contest actually to... Bumrah. Bumrah at the MCG last year. Caused chaos. Yeah. Caused absolute chaos with Bumrah by just flicking it. And all of a sudden, they had two fielders, obviously finding the third back. They had four slips to start with. They went to a two and a one within probably two or three overs. Suddenly, there was gaps everywhere because they had to put a fielder back behind. Do you think Pat Cummins will start with a deep extra cover? He might not play. If he's fit.

46:08Sir Alastair Cook: Yeah, I think for Zach Crawley, yes. Another thing I like watching with Joe, you were saying you know after about ten balls, and you're right, you're right. And I can remember loads of times I've seen Joe do it, especially the game at Edgbaston against India, couldn't bowl a dot ball to you, because you were just sort of like, you know, boom, like that, and they go like that, and then you sort of go, boom, that way, and hit it that way, or you just sort of go, boom, that way, you know what I mean? or sort of you know you can't behold and yet they couldn't bow a dot ball to you and that is so frustrating but your back lift you know you're quite upright

46:48Michael Vaughan: with that that kind of the back lift or is it that's always been the case I've played around with it right is it changed things the other thing and there's loaded kids trying it my lad one of them you know you you spin the bat in your hand don't you that's just a rhythm thing so many kids Have you seen it? Alex Stewart. Has the ball just running up? Playing the flute. Well, he's probably not started yet. Just had the back. Yeah.

47:14Sir Alastair Cook: Phil, I reckon if you tried that, you'd drop the bat. I bet I wouldn't. That was the one thing I could do. No, but not up, right?

47:20Michael Vaughan: In your stance. You can... It's amazing what you can do. Go on, try it, Phil.

47:24Sir Alastair Cook: What? In your stance. Yeah, yeah. Look at that. In your stance, Nat. In the stance, so you go down. He's got it. He's got it. LAUGHTER

47:38Michael Vaughan: So you just kind of play around with it? Yeah. I think I saw Cain doing that once and he just looked like he had so much rhythm in everything he does and that's basically what I judge my batting on, is my rhythm and movements and my game. I want to create a flow, basically. I'm not someone that's rigid and is very powerful, strong.

47:58Phil Tufnell: Who do you see as modern greats from other names? I think Kane's a wonderful player. Steve Smith's been incredible, especially when he's played against us. Virat Kohli. Gil, I think is going to be a very, very good player. Across the format is Harry Brook. Watching him bat the other end, he makes my life so much easier. The amount of pressure he just puts on bowlers. Did you say earlier that batting with Harry Brook is very similar to Kevin Peterson? In a, yeah, I'd say in a slightly different way. I think physically, you know, when KP was at the crease and his aura, his presence was quite intimidating.

48:44Whereas with Harry, it's more about, you just don't know, he can hit you anywhere at any time. And you just don't know when it's going to come. And as a bowler, you think, if I bowl the top of a stump, it could either go over fine leg or it could go over mid off the sixth. And you're back at the other end thinking, this is Christmas, because they're constantly, there's a lot of people out there trying to control the rate. and in many ways they stop trying to get you out they're trying to stop your score and when you've got that mentality or you feel that there's that mentality against you as a batting group it makes life a lot easier you feel like it's all about then there's not a threat there from the from the opposition.

49:30Sir Alastair Cook: Joe, England's greatest ever how's that sitting with you? I guess it's perception, isn't it? It depends what your opinion of greatest is, to be fair.

49:43Michael Vaughan: Well, I'll tell you the numbers, Joe. You're 2 ,378 behind Sachin. That's not a lot. He knew that. Did you know that? Well, you get told it every bloody day. What do you remember of your debut? A lot, to be fair. walking out to I remember feeling like ages waiting to that and then walking out just buzzing thinking if this is the only opportunity I get to play for England I'll be you know I've done everything that I dreamt of doing as a kid and I was like I'm just going to make sure I enjoy it however long it lasts whether it's one ball whether it's more walking out to bounce Kevin Peters one of my heroes growing up stood at the other end and I just could not stop smiling I remember that smile.

50:34I was having the best time. I just wanted to make it last as long as possible. We had to play for, in many ways, just needed a draw to win the series. So just bat as long as you want. So just try to bat as long as I could. It was the fourth game of that series when we won in India. I think Sam had played the first three and then Andy came to me and just like, I've been watching, I've been watching. We have to play Joe in this game. He's just convinced. I mean, I'm watching the Nets as well. our best player of spin was not playing and that was straight away and you know the only thing you had doubt was was whether you could handle the situation you don't know the only thing once you've seen someone like Joe turn up you think he's got the technique he's got that back how do you handle a test match I've never seen someone on their debut just walk out as if he'd played however many games it was literally a joke apart from you no but I was not you just got out and got 100 in the second didn't you no it was different that's different because I was like I wasn't smiling, I wasn't relaxed, I wasn't like...

51:33That was like, that was free. We were sitting there going, how is this bloke just taking the test cricket? Massive, just a cap on as well. Got the inger cap on there. Just walk out and just like... That's a cool look, isn't it? It's just a translation of someone like he can handle the situation. And probably one sense, a little bit like Jacob Bethel has just come in. The reason these guys rate him so highly, Bethel, is the fact that he seems to play the situation well. And Joe's had that by the best swipe ever seen.

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53:13Michael Vaughan: Stick to Cricket is brought to you by Betfair. Let's get on to the ashes in the winter. Currently on the Betfair exchange The exchange gives England a 27 % chance of winning in Australia Is that fair? It doesn't matter does it? You've got five opportunities to beat Australia in Australia You've got to just do everything you can to prepare well Make sure you're ready to go Understand the conditions, the opposition The external challenges that come with playing in those conditions and playing over in Australia and enjoy it for what it is. Please don't bet Fez our main sponsor. Don't say it doesn't matter.

53:55But in terms of what goes on, it doesn't, does it really? But yeah, I get...

54:00Sir Alastair Cook: I think we're a bit better odds than that. I have them better than that.

54:06Michael Vaughan: Yeah, I don't. I really do. It's 50-50, sure. Well, it's 50-50 because of the history. I think Australia just nipped it. Well, you've got to have all my advantage.

54:14Phil Tufnell: All my advantage. We'll have a lot of people there. 45-55 I have it. I'll be there. That's how I have it. I've got it 50-50.

54:22Michael Vaughan: 50-50. I'll be looking. I mean, I'm not even looking. The last time we were there, I thought it was awful for the team. You know, with COVID times, it was... Yeah, horrific. And what was Brody's coming? It was... It doesn't count. It doesn't count. I'm kind of with him on that because of everything that surrounded that tour. I generally think this England side, if you can get... I mean, you need that little bit of the rub of the green. I really believe that. if you can just get those little things that need to go your way in a big series. It's the first time that I've started to get excited. Oh, yeah, without a doubt.

54:52Sir Alastair Cook: First couple of sets.

54:53Michael Vaughan: In 2011, I knew England had this team that was like a juggernaut. You played such strong discipline. You had Swanee. I thought, yeah, you'll compete. And Australia, we're just starting to go through a little bit of transition. I look at this Aussie side and I think, I've seen him the last few winters down there. And he actually looked back, not just the Indian series last thing, it was Pakistan the previous year. Pakistan had a court. I reckon Pakistan would have beaten them so those kind of we all talk about the batting side we all talk about getting 20 wickets if you get 20 wickets you've got to catch and if England can catch well you've got more catches than anyone if you want a lesson in catching Joe don't come to me I generally think if they catch well I reckon against this Aussie batting line up you will create chances

55:34Phil Tufnell: how important is that first match at Perth? crucial but England have been notorious in the past as slow starters started well lately away from them We lost 5-0, 4-0. Just slow talk.

55:48Michael Vaughan: No, but away from home in recent times, because all the talk is preparation. There's a White Wall Series in New Zealand and you're going to play, I think, a three-day game and watch yourselves. I mean, that's the great debate. All the ex-old players, it's like, well, it's not enough. Yeah, but look at the previous tours that we've been on. The preparation we played against. There was players making their first-class debut in those games that we were playing. The matches that they put on for us, was it Prime Minister's 11? and I reckon they had 10 first class caps between them as a team so you're not playing, the quality of opposition is not that, you can say you need to get used to the services but if So if you could guarantee that you were going to play like Australia A their next best, would you think that's a better game than of us playing amongst yourselves?

56:36I don't know, I think it would be a good thing for us to play the Lions out there's the fact is that's what's happening and we'll make the most of it

56:44Phil Tufnell: that's it it is what it is that's the plan we were chatting earlier that we in back in the day we would play every stage before the first test so the two is four and a half months you're gonna be in and out in two months aren't you

57:00Michael Vaughan: well I look if you look at recent times you went to Pakistan on the back of being in Abu Dhabi well if I remember rightly you were gonna play a three-day game and after two days you're like well we've had enough went and won that yeah New Zealand last year I don't think you played a game in New Zealand did you what the first test or did you have a warm-up game a couple of days we had a we played a warm-up game yeah yeah so just just a quick one and then straight into a test so this modern era is a different era isn't it it is it

57:28Phil Tufnell: but you're dead right it is what it is you can debate it forever and the older players who would say you played this and did all that well it ain't gonna happen the schedule is that you need to rest your players you need to prepare 2010-11 we had three first-class games won the series 2000 and 13-14 we had three first-class games what happened in 86-87 when they say they just got pissed I'm saying so we had the same preparation and we lost 5-0 they were better they were better

57:56Michael Vaughan: than us that's it well sometimes you do come up against better team of course that's the nature in the base. Shake hands, well played.

58:04Sir Alastair Cook: Joe, just a quick one, not being negative or anything like that, but have you got any regrets about your career? Or things that you wish you'd have done differently? Probably. Probably loads. Try not to hold on to them. I think anyone that sits there and says, oh, I wouldn't change anything is a lie. Of course you go back and you might do things differently if you had the opportunity to do so but you also the learnings that you get from it the opportunities to get better and it's I guess it's how you take those difficult times right and what you make of them that you can use it to shape you and help you improve and get better or you can you know feel sorry about it that it affect you so um I look at elements of elements of my captaincy where I wish I'd have been a bit stronger and I wish I'd done things slightly differently especially towards the back end but you know I look at the team that we have now and how far it's come in three years and the impact that I've been able to make as a senior player and help Ben and Brendan create what they've created it's been awesome to be a part of so I guess it's I rather than look at what could have done differently I just look at what I've got left in front of me and just see that as an opportunity to enjoy the I guess the latter part of my career and have as much fun as I can and Try and create some special things off and off.

59:31Phil Tufnell: Do you still have to chaperone Ben? Or has that gone? No, that's gone. A little bit more sensible than he told us. He used to have to go look after Ben. So he's took responsibility on. Yeah, fantastic. Except for his golf. He's actually a lot calmer now. Is he? Yeah. Is that right on the golf course? Yeah, he used to break a club once. Oh, regular. Go out with 14 clubs, come back with 10. I remember we played on the same course and you saw one of his up for trees. He started chasing me. I said, you can throw it further than that, can't you? And me and him were left-handers. Don't take your driver here.

1:00:09Phil Tufnell: He's like threading a needle. I'm taking my driver. There's a lake over there. Don't take your driver. Take a four, aren't you? That's in the lake. He started chasing me. He's on my team.

1:00:22Sir Alastair Cook: Phil, apparently you've got to go. I have got to go. I have got to go. It's been in my ear that Phil's off. Yeah, I've got to go. Joe, listen, absolute legend, mate. Sorry I've got a rush. All right. But I've got... Why don't Joe... Joe, why don't he come here? You sit next to him. For the last group. Phil, nice to see you.

1:00:42Michael Vaughan: Take care. Stick to Cricket is brought to you by Betfair. A few questions on teammates. Right. Which teammate is most likely to throw their bat After getting a duck. I think we've answered that one already. Benjamin is it? I think sir the skipper Who is first to lunch?

1:01:08Be one of the seamers I reckon I'll go if I'll go with Brydon Brydon Cass well, that's a bunch does he? I'm a manager Way no no not way now, you know tres maybe Yeah, Marcus likes it. Yeah, Trez. But he's more of a, yeah, it's either sausages or... Does he still eat loads of sausages? Nah. He's more of a, he likes an ice cream. Does he? He likes an ice cream.

1:01:35Michael Vaughan: Ice cream. All right. Who is the last person to leave the Nets? It'd be me or Brookie. You or Brookie? You or Harry, yeah. Who is the most likely to be late for the bus?

1:01:51Back in the day, it would have been me. Really? Yeah, before captaincy, I'd sleep in a lot. I'd say now, it's not really an obvious candidate.

1:02:02Phil Tufnell: Good question. There is nobody. Nobody?

1:02:07Michael Vaughan: No. No one's late?

1:02:08Phil Tufnell: No.

1:02:08Michael Vaughan: I like that. Good set of teammates. Who is the most likely to go out for dinner in their training kit or some item of training kit from the team?

1:02:19Phil Tufnell: Coffee. Zach Crawley. really no yeah he doesn't care he's like he's an old soul his fashion's nice thing well on

1:02:31Michael Vaughan: fashion actually it was the most likely to walk at Paris fashion week Stokesy probably what is a model is he no I didn't like this he likes his things does he yeah he doesn't buy good he doesn't Takeaway order Because you all have like deliverance and uber eats room these days really what's wrong with that? Chalking well you can go on the app and you can order anything anything. I've done it. Oh, you've not got a good response Bloody awful. What do you mean? What have you been ordering?

1:03:08Phil Tufnell: Not hot Good. That one sushi hot. I don't I like sashimi. He's good with his sushi orders. Yeah, I like sashimi Anyway, go on. Who would that be? Worst order? Duckett.

1:03:23Michael Vaughan: Duckett. Who's the least interested tourist when playing away? In terms of what? Who hates being away?

1:03:34I'd say Jamie Smith, probably. He's a home bird, is he? He just wants to watch West Ham. Is he at West Ham? Yeah, big West Ham.

1:03:45Michael Vaughan: Who is the best golfer? pains me to say he's probably Harry Brook Harry Brook's the best golfer right to finish off Joe we finish off with some community questions

1:03:55Phil Tufnell: can I ask a question

1:03:56Michael Vaughan: the first one's from Dave from that's not me that's you

1:04:00Phil Tufnell: no it isn't I'm not from Ashington

1:04:03Michael Vaughan: I'm from Ashington

1:04:04Phil Tufnell: oh Ashington I thought he said Ashington no Ashington ask him who the most boring bloke in the team is you can ask him you're there yeah who's the most boring bloke well that I've ever played with or now yeah go on Cookie Right, Ruben. Right.

1:04:21Michael Vaughan: Is that any knee? Here's one for you. If England couldn't play, which team would you like to see win an ICC event? I don't think you can answer that, can you? I don't know. I'll have Afghanistan with Trotty to win it. Afghanistan? Well, because Trotty's head coach, I'll have him... There you go, and there's Mike one. Sorry, I'm just... If England can't... Yeah. I mean, also... Let's go with that. Let's go with... I'll help you out there.

1:04:52Phil Tufnell: Scotland. We've lost to them before. Yeah. Well, the Grange. That was a great game. That was a super game. Actually, I didn't know either of them. Which Rolling Stone was at that game? It was the Grange when Scotland beat England. Mick. No. Bronny. No. Matt? No. Drama. I'm trying to remember his name now. Charlie Watts. Charlie Watts. How was he? Yeah. Suited up.

1:05:25Michael Vaughan: All right. Interesting. I'd go New Zealand, by the way. Oh, lovely New Zealand. Yeah, just a nice set of players. Lovely. Good team. Right, it's T20 Finals Day on Saturday. What is T20 Finals Day like as a player? It's good. It's hectic. I think it's as close as you're going to get domestically to international cricket in terms of the atmosphere. You've got a full house. You've got what should be a brilliant wicket. Clearly, side's in good form playing good stuff. It's as close as you're going to get in terms of an event to an international game. Richard Thompson, the chairman of the ECB, said, I think, three or four days ago that the 100 could match the IPL in terms of profile and exposure.

1:06:15Michael Vaughan: He even mentioned that he thinks Indian players might be able to come and play with all this, obviously, investment that's come into the 100. The 100 this year, it seems to have gone up a level. I think the 100 is brilliant. What I'd say the best thing about the 100 is its originality. It's something completely different. It asks the players to look at the game slightly differently. Look at T20 cricket, you can pretty much see how a game's going to unfold. whereas with 100, the momentum and wicket can change the dynamic of the game drastically. I think that's what's so fascinating. When you've played a lot of cricket and you've got experienced players, you can see how a game's going to pan out and then you play this format.

1:06:56It feels like that's not the case. I think that's why guys enjoy it.

1:07:00Michael Vaughan: Would you keep it as 100? There's whispers and rumours about it becoming a team. I would. I think that's its point of difference. That's what it brings to the game. And I think that's what people like about it when they come and play overseas players. People like Adam Zampa come and play one game in the final and says it's his favourite tournament that he plays in. I think that's great credit because it is different. I think a lot of it was about targeting a new audience and bringing new people into the game. I think it's done that exceptionally well. I think that's been one of its big strengths.

1:07:32But I think in terms of the quality of cricket, you've got high-class players. Whenever you've got that on good surfaces, you're going to get a good product. So I think that's got to be the key moving forward.

1:07:44Michael Vaughan: Final one is from Mick in Wilmslow. Will Sheffield Wednesday finish higher than Sheffield United this year? Will Sheffield Wednesday finish this year?

1:07:55Phil Tufnell: That's a blow. That's under the belt. I think that's the honest truth, isn't it? Are you a blade? I am, yeah.

1:08:01Michael Vaughan: We've got one more point then. We're one point ahead of them. You've got one point. You might be getting dogged for something at some point. We'll probably get dogs a few but at the minute we've got one. Actually you signed a few Luton players. Chong? Or Benny? We'll be alright. They're good players. Or Benny? We're bossing to get Chris Wilder back as manager. Interesting little time, get 92 points, get to the playoff final. Any other season we'll probably go up automatically and then we find ourselves with the new manager at the start of this year. Who finished fourth bottom with Hull. So we'll see how things pan out but they've made a couple of good signings so hopefully that can turn things around.

1:08:36But that's happened quite quickly, I guess.

1:08:39Michael Vaughan: Cheers, Joe. Cheers, thank you for having me. Thanks for coming on, brilliant. Thank you. Brilliant. Don't forget your fruit. Oh, yeah. Don't forget your fruit and your onion.

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