With the Ashes approaching, Geoffrey Boycott questioned how many more opportunities England would give the struggling Zak Crawley before searching for a new opening batsman.
With just 128 runs from six innings at an average of 21.33 in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, Crawley has been in appalling form. So far, he has only managed one half-century. The England opener has only amassed 3151 runs at an average of 30.89 in his 57 Test matches thus far.
Despite playing international cricket for nearly five years, Boycott believed the right-handed hitter had not learnt much. The former cricket player thinks it’s time for England to let Crawley go.
“How many more opportunities will Crawley have? His 57 tests have taught him nothing. A front-foot drive to a wide sucker ball captured at gully in the second innings and a waft caught behind in the first. It was really a rerun of too many of his rejections. It’s time to leave,” Boycott wrote in his Telegraph column.
Boycott believes that if Australian seamers Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Pat Cummins have the chance to bowl to Crawley in the Ashes, which will begin later this year in Australia, they will be overjoyed.
“To bowl at him, the majority of opposing bowlers are eager to remove their sweaters. What are the Australian seamers thinking about the Ashes series this winter? “Hazlewood and Cummins will get you if Starc doesn’t,” he said.
Ollie must return to his fundamental batting style: Geoffrey Boycott,
Boycott also called attention to Ollie Pope’s flaws, as he has recently shown inconsistency. Pope is making an excessive effort to modify his style of play to fit the ‘Bazball’ method, according to the 84-year-old. Boycott suggested that the right-handed batter concentrate on the fundamentals and adjust his batting style to the circumstances of each game.
“Ollie should return to his fundamental batting style. Instead of blindly following a philosophy or how he believes the coach and captain want him to play, he must evaluate the circumstances and bat appropriately,” Boycott stated.
India
