Disappointed by their performance in the first Test against India, former captain Geoffrey Boycott has lambasted the England batsmen for showing lack of patience and technique.
English batters were found out against the Indian bowlers at Trent Bridge. Expect for skipper Joe Root (64 and 109), none of the batsmen managed to touch the 40-run mark.
"I recently bumped into Graham Gooch and we chatted about England's batting. He summed it all up by saying: “Fiery, if bowlers keep it tight for four balls, then you know our batsmen will have a go at the fifth and sixth deliveries and there is every chance they will get themselves out," Boycott wrote in The Telegraph.
"The culture of cricket has changed. Many of us batsmen love playing shots and because of the diet of one day cricket, modern players are pretty good at it, but it is their defensive technique that lets them down.
"It might sound unfashionable because of franchise leagues to talk about staying in and being defensive but, like Goochie said, teams only have to bowl a few good balls because they know batsmen will soon be tempted to play a big shot."
England's batsmen had also struggled badly in their last Test series against New Zealand at home.
"We supporters are disappointed when they look to attack all the time, but we should not be surprised, because that is the type of cricket they have been taught at county level. Look at Zak Crawley. He is symptomatic of the problem. Over the last number of years young batsmen have been taught to whack the ball because there are so many one day matches," lamented Boycott.
"The talk is all about strike rates but for Test match cricket that is a load of rubbish. If you can't defend, then top bowlers in Test match cricket with a newish ball will find your weaknesses. What is the point of having a range of eye-catching strokes if you can't stay in? That is the root cause of his problems."
The 80-year-old also slammed the opening duo of Rory Burns and Dom Sibley.
"Not just former Test players but even club players look at Rory Burns and Dom Sibley and think they can do better. Sibley is the opposite of Crawley. He has stickability but his lack of strokes hurts him. He cannot rotate the strike, so if he cannot move his score along, and the team’s score, then he creates enormous pressure on himself.
"Burns is like Sibley. First innings he lasted five balls. It was a repeat of previous dismissals. He started his front foot forward on the wrong side of the ball and then realised he had picked the wrong length," said Boycott.
He then had a go at Jos Buttler and Dan Lawrence.
"I don't know what to say about Dan Lawrence. It is just footwork with him. They have to find someone else. Jos Buttler is a sad tale. In the first innings he got nought off 18 balls and could have been out about seven times. His footwork and judgement were non-existent, but it is not surprising because he has not played any four-day matches.
"Many of our batsmen don't get enough preparation before Tests with proper county cricket.
"I don't think our administrators understand how difficult it can be to transfer the mental approach and way of batting from trying to hit every ball to the different tempo and technique required for Test matches," he added.
Coming to the match, the opening Test ended in a draw as a result of the relentless rain on the final day.
Chasing 209 in the fourth innings, the visitors were 51/2 at the close of play on Day 4 with Rohit Sharma (12*) and Cheteshwar Pujara (12*) unbeaten in the middle.
