Sir Geoffrey Boycott lashed out at England skipper Joe Root for his poor captaincy after the tourists’ embarrassing innings and 14-run defeat against Australia in the third Test of the ongoing Ashes 2021-22 series on Tuesday (December 28) in Melbourne.
England has already lost the Ashes series to Australia after losing the first three Tests of the ongoing five-match Test series – the first Test by 9 wickets and the second Test by 275 runs at Brisbane and Adelaide, respectively, following their embarrassing defeat in Melbourne.
After Australia's commanding victory at the MCG to take an unassailable 3-0 lead, Boycott said that Root must step down as England captain.
Boycott wrote in his column in The Telegraph: “Now Australia are 3-0 up and the Ashes have gone, will Root please stop saying Australia are not much better than us? I don't mind him living in cuckoo land but stop trying to kid us.”
The legendary batter added, “If he really believes what he says then maybe it is time he gave up the captaincy of the England cricket team. The facts are staring us all in the face, except Joe doesn't want to see it. England can't bat. Our bowling is ordinary.”
He further pointed out Root's many wrong decisions including batting first on a seamer-friendly pitch at the Gabba and leaving out James Anderson and Stuart Broad in the first Test.
Boycott signed off by saying, “It's every cricketer's dream to captain England and Joe has had 59 Test matches to mould and stamp his authority on this set of players. He has had 13 Tests against Australia with only two wins and nine losses. Nobody would want to give up the captaincy, but it is not about Joe -- it is about getting guys to perform better.”
(With Reuters Inputs)
