England’s batting collapse in the fourth Test against England has become one of the major points of discussion in the ongoing series. Despite having the upper hand on the first three days of the Oval Test, Joe Root & Co failed to continue the momentum till the end of the game. The English batting line-up surrendered to India’s potent bowling attack, losing the match by 157 runs.
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Ahead of the final face off in Manchester, several former cricketers have expressed their concerns over England’s struggle with the bat and Geoffrey Boycott is the newest person to join the bandwagon.
In his latest column for The Telegraph, Boycott stated that the English batters must look into the mirror and confront their weaknesses before they fly to Australia later this year for the Ashes series. He was of the opinion that the likes of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood would be eager to bowl to the Root-led side, especially after watching videos of the Oval Test.
“The Australians will have watched the footage from the Oval. Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood will be queuing up to bowl at us. The England batsmen need to stand in front of a mirror and be honest with themselves. Whatever it is, change it because it is not working. Everybody has nerves, expectations and heightened emotions when batting but we have to conquer them and play well. Our guys just collapse under pressure,” Boycott wrote.
{{/usCountry}}“The Australians will have watched the footage from the Oval. Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood will be queuing up to bowl at us. The England batsmen need to stand in front of a mirror and be honest with themselves. Whatever it is, change it because it is not working. Everybody has nerves, expectations and heightened emotions when batting but we have to conquer them and play well. Our guys just collapse under pressure,” Boycott wrote.
{{/usCountry}}The former England cricketer and commentator ‘bluntly’ mentioned that ‘England are not good enough’ as they can’t be a one-man army. Boycott asserted that other players besides captain Joe Root have to step up and do their job.
“Put bluntly, England are not good enough. When England win, you feel Joe has to bat exceptionally well to give us a chance. But to be a top team you can’t be a one-man band. Other guys have to stand up and do the business. Most England cricket supporters sit on the edge of their seats when we are batting wondering how the hell are we going to play. They don’t have confidence in our batsmen,” Boycott further wrote.