England’s Ashes 2023 campaign got off to a negative start as they endured a narrow two-wicket defeat at the hands of Australia at Edgbaston last week.

Ahead of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s, batting legend Geoffrey Boycott has come down heavily on England’s ultra-aggressive approach, famously dubbed as ‘Bazball’.

At Edgbaston, the Three Lions declared their first innings at 393/8 after 78 overs on Day 1 when Joe Root was batting on 118. After taking a meagre 7-run lead, the hosts came out swinging and posted 273 in their second essay, without any of their batters scoring fifty.

In hindsight, it did seem that the bold declaration backfired as England lost the game ad conceded a 1-0 lead to Australia in the five-match Test series.

“I enjoyed the cricket, it kept you on the edge of your seat,” said Boycott while speaking on the Vaughany and Tuffers Cricket Club podcast.

“England were winning every session, but they didn’t win the match, and that should tell them something for the next Test. They lost sight of the fact that the object is to win and then if you want to entertain then yes, by all means," he added.

After the Ashes 2023 opener result, England pacer Robinson, in his column for Wisden, wrote: “Baz (McCullum) said it after the game, “It feels like we’ve won, lads.” We’ve entertained the world, and we’ve put the Aussies on the back foot. For him to say that after a loss is quite significant for us.”

This hasn't gone down well with Boycott, who slammed the ‘Bazball’ mantra for prioritizing entertainment over winning.

“But why can’t you win and entertain? When you get ahead of yourself - and that’s what England did - they stopped thinking," the 82-year-old stated.

“If you’re going to just entertain, they might as well be a circus. That’s it, go be a professional circus around the world."

"If you ask people in England ‘Do you want to win the Ashes, or do you want to entertain and lose?’, I know what the answer will be,” he further remarked.