Former England captain Geoff Boycott didn’t mince his words as he slammed the England team and its batters for a poor batting display in Rawalpindi Tests against Pakistan spinners. Pakistan made an excellent comeback after losing the first Test, to win the 3-Test series 2-1.
After England's batters scored a record 823/7 decl. at a run rate of 5.48 on a flatbed Multan pitch, resulting in an innings victory over the hosts, Pakistan turned to rank-turning strips for the series' second and third tests.
The Englishmen only scored 814 runs in four innings, while Pakistan's twin-spin attack led by Noman Ali and Sajid Khan sparked a surprising 2-1 series victory.
After 19 Tests in the ICC World Test Championship, the Test team led by head coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes has won only nine games.
“If you want to be rated a great batsman, you must have a rounded game and score runs on all types of pitches,” Boycott wrote in his column for The Telegraph.
Labeling the batting group as ‘brainless Bazballers’, Boycott wrote: “They are entertaining and fantastic to watch because you never know what they are going to do next, good or bad, but Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum want their team to be the best. Unfortunately, they are wasting their opportunity and risk being remembered as flat-track bullies unless they make some adjustments for conditions.”
“The saddest thing is that England do not play in India or Pakistan again on spinning pitches for nearly three years…It was annoying to hear the England players saying after the Pakistan series defeat: “That’s how we as a group play,” Boycott lamented.
England also suffered a 3-1 series defeat in India earlier this year, with the batsmen failing against a formidable spin attack. Boycott was particularly critical of Stokes, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, and Ollie Pope's methods of handling spinners.
“For two Test matches our batting was pathetic against spin. In India earlier this year the batsmen were weak and easily spun out. As soon as the ball grips Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Harry Brook, and Stokes are all at sea. They go at the ball with hard hands and there are gaps between bat and pad,” Boycott added.
England’s WTC cycle will conclude with a three-Test series in New Zealand in November-December.
