ENGLAND have been heavily criticised in the wake of their 95-run defeat to India, with former captain Michael Vaughan calling for change after labelling their performance at Lord’s “pathetic”.

The pressure continues to build on skipper Alastair Cook after England slipped 1-0 down in the five-match Investec Test series.

England are now without a win in their last ten Test matches, losing seven times, and their latest setback has irked several pundits, most notably Vaughan, who has in recent days called for Cook to be replaced as captain.

He told BBC’s Test Match Special: “It’s been absolutely pathetic from England.

“We’ve seen some collapses in the last year – against Australia, Sri Lanka and now India – but this is the worst of the lot. Something has got to change.

“India were the better team over the five days – they were better led and batted and bowled better.

“What was said in the England dressing room at lunch? To come out and play all those shots, it’s absolutely ridiculous.

“It’s as though Matt Prior came out thinking he was in the last-chance saloon and was going to hook every single ball.

“You can’t do that in a Test. Ben Stokes played a hook shot on a pair. It was pure panic – but why are they panicking?”

Cook’s own form is an ongoing concern, although Nasser Hussain believes there are too many fundamental things going wrong for England that will not be resolved by Cook regaining his form.

Hussain said: “He needs to tell ask himself, ‘(am I) making a difference as a captain to this England side?’ The stats tell you that he’s not.

“The record has gone in completely the wrong direction.

Would we miss Alastair if he was not captain at the Ageas Bowl?

“If Michael Clarke was suddenly not captain of Australia I think they would miss him. If Alastair Cook was not captain of England at the Ageas Bowl would we look up and say ‘we’re missing the tactical genius of Alastair Cook?’ We wouldn’t.

“There’s been a lot of stuff written this week that he just needs a score.

That will not change all of England’s woes. If he gets an 80 at the Ageas Bowl, will they stop collapsing?

No. Will they bowl better to the tail? No. Will they bowl better with the new bowl? No. Will they play the short ball better? No.

It’s a sign of madness if you keep doing the same thing time after time and not changing it.

“Someone needs to stand up and change things otherwise this run will continue.”

Geoffrey Boycott also believes there needs to be a change at the top.

“Only Alastair Cook, his wife and family want him to remain as captain - nobody else,” he said on BBC’s TMS.

“He’s being stubborn and it’s going to take six wild stallions to drag him out of that job. It’s not about Alastair’s feelings, it’s about the England team.’’