Stick to Cricket Episode Seven: England v India series review and Ashes hopes

• Vaughan, Cook, Lloyd and Tuffers look back on England v India

• Ollie Pope's captaincy questioned after Oval Test draw

• England must be brave with Atkinson in Australia

• Panel pick team of series and talk Ashes selections

• Betfair Predicts is your guide to winter Ashes predictions

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Betfair and The Overlap proudly present Stick to Cricket, a captivating new show featuring renowned England cricket legends Michael Vaughan, Sir Alastair Cook, David 'Bumble' Lloyd, and Phil 'Tuffers' Tufnell. 

The weekly show offers insights and discussions, with special guests joining the cricket icons to delve into the sport's hottest topics.

In this episode, the team dissect the final Test of the five-match series at the Oval and look ahead to what this means for England in the 2025 Ashes series in Australia.

Watch the episode and read a selection of the team's quotes below.

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Michael Vaughan: Brook should be captain if Stokes is out

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 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. 

Anything could happen with Ben. Fingers crossed he's fine. 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.

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Alastair Cook: Keep Atkinson fresh during Ashes 

I think we know what the top seven for England is going to be [in Australia], the bowlers. I think we know which bowlers are going to go, it is just how they're going to rotate Archer, Wood, Atkison, whoever to fit each game.

They've got to be really bold, I looked at Gus Atkinson [in the fifth Test against India] and he was back to bowling 87mph. If he has one really good game in Australia, you say right 'don't back him up', we'll swap someone else in.

We have got to be brave as him bowling at 83mph, he's not the same bowler. At the end of last summer, he was down at 83mph, because he had played every game. They have got to be really brave. 

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Michael Vaughan: Bethell selection "diabolical" 

I felt sorry for Jacob Bethell... This summer he has faced 67 balls in red-ball cricket, he's scored 32 runs. 

I know you have to have players there for concussion nowadays, so you need a spare batter at the ground in case someone gets hit on the head. But surely, if you're trying to develop a young cricketer, you've got to give him time to go and play cricket; so if it does come that he has to play, at least he's had a bit of game time. 

To throw a kid, who's 21, out at the Oval in front of 27,000 when the series is on the line, on a pitch which is doing plenty, against Siraj... I thought it was diabolical. 

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Phil Tufnell: Final day atmosphere panicked England

What game can you turn up to on a Monday morning, for 40 minutes, full-house and it delivers like [the England v India fifth Test]? I don't think there's another game in the world that can deliver like that.

It's an amazing game, our game. We're commentating on it and people just walk off when they want. We're all going, what's going on? The atmosphere panicked England.  

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David Lloyd: Ahmed and Hameed would be in my Ashes team 

Rehan Ahmed is in my team [for the Ashes], in the top seven. I would also have Haseeb Hameed at three. I think Hameed's a really good player, there's so many times that we've played three openers in the top three, I don't think that's a problem. 

I think Hameed's got enough 'up here' to bat in the top three. He's expanded his game. 

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Stick to Cricket's team of England v India series

The following is the Stick to Cricket panel's team of the England v India Test series. 

1. KL Rahul

2. Ben Duckett

3. Shubman Gill

4. Joe Root

5. Harry Brook

6. Ben Stokes

7. Rishabh Pant

8. Washington Sundar

9. Gus Atkinson

10. Jasprit Bumrah

11. Mohammed Siraj

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The thrilling England v India Test series is over but the summer of cricket is not. Read Betting.Betfair for previews of ODIs, The Hundred and make our cricket blog your number one for this winter's Ashes series.

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