The England men’s cricket team has faced a challenging few months. Under the leadership of Jos Buttler, they struggled at the ODI World Cup in India, finishing a disappointing 7th with only three wins out of nine matches. As the new year began, the team, captained by Ben Stokes, embarked on a highly anticipated tour of India, seen as the ultimate test of their aggressive ‘Bazball’ approach. Unfortunately, they suffered a 1-4 series defeat. The season’s woes continued with another dismal performance at the T20 World Cup, where England was soundly beaten by India in the semi-finals and managed to defeat only one Test-playing nation, the West Indies, throughout the tournament.
Former cricketer Geoffrey Boycott has sharply criticized the England team for their underwhelming performance. The 83-year-old English batting great, in a rather unusual jibe, lamented that even “moderate to average” England Test players are amassing wealth from their participation in the lucrative Indian Premier League, despite their middling performances. He further aimed to examine England’s approach to Test cricket.
“All we have had over the last few months is the Twenty20 World Cup in the Caribbean, where England performed poorly, the Indian Premier League, which helped a few of our moderate to average Test players get rich,” Boycott wrote in his column for The Telegraph.
“Before that, a miserable 4-1 Test series loss in India where England started well, but in the end were hammered.
“In India last winter, ego and hubris got the better of some of our players. They came out with comments about being entertainers and how it was important to score quickly and thrill the crowds. All that is laudable but they should never lose sight that there is a winner and a loser and losing isn’t much fun,” Boycott added about the series.
‘Join a circus’
Boycott criticized Stokes and his team for their relentless commitment to aggressive play, a strategy that was heavily scrutinized during the series against India. England faced severe criticism for neglecting match situations, a flaw that ultimately cost in crucial situations throughout the series. Boycott was unequivocal in his rebuke, stating that if the players aren’t concerned with outcomes, they might as well “join the circus.”
“Test match cricket is not an exhibition. If our players start to think that results don’t matter then they might as well join a circus or go around the world like the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team doing tricks, laughing and joking, and not bothering who wins so long as everyone has a fun time,” wrote Boycott.
