Boycott questioned how many more chances Crawley will get to prove his worth in Test cricket.
Former England captain Geoffrey Boycott has launched a scathing attack on Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum for their unwavering support of struggling opener Zak Crawley.
Boycott expressed amazement that the England team management isn’t exploring alternative options, questioning how many more chances Crawley will get given his underwhelming average of 30.89 after 57 Tests.
"People ask me: ‘Haven’t we got another opener in county cricket?’ I say: ‘I don’t think the hierarchy are looking.’ It’s a members’ club and if you are in it… you can’t get out," Boycott wrote in his column for The Telegraph.
"Zak Crawley is a lucky lad because there is an old saying in cricket: ‘Never change a winning team.’
"I don’t believe that, but some do, and because they won, England will be tempted to pick the same players. I believe in another saying: ‘When you are winning, that is when you should try to improve your team.’"
Crawley has scored 3151 runs in 104 Test innings so far, including five hundreds and 17 half-centuries.
"How many more chances is Crawley going to get? He has learned nothing in his 57 Tests," Boycott remarked.
"A waft in the first innings, caught behind, and a front-foot drive in the second innings to a wide sucker ball, caught at gully. It was just a replay of too many of his dismissals. Time to go. Five hundreds and an average of 31 is not good enough."
Boycott further suggested that the Australian pace trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood will make life hell for Zak Crawley in the upcoming Ashes series Down Under.
"Most opposition bowlers can’t wait to get their sweaters off to bowl at him. Can you imagine what the Australian seamers are thinking about this winter’s Ashes series? If Starc doesn’t get you, Hazlewood and Cummins will."