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Boycott blasts two England flops after India loss, declares one 'past sell-by date': 'Leopard doesn't change his spots'
The England legend has slammed two English stars after the side's devastating defeat in the second Test at Edgbaston.
Geoffrey Boycott has delivered a scathing critique of England’s Test side after their crushing defeat to India at Edgbaston, singling out opener Zak Crawley and veteran seamer Chris Woakes for special criticism. Writing in The Daily Telegraph, the former England opener expressed deep frustration over Crawley’s repeated failures and questioned Woakes’ continued presence in the side.
Boycott was particularly unforgiving in his assessment of Crawley, suggesting the 26-year-old lacks the capacity to adapt.
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“I don’t think he can change or get better,” Boycott wrote. “Batting is in the head and the brain dictates how you approach batting: what shots you attempt, what balls you leave. His faults in technique and thinking are ingrained. A leopard doesn’t change his spots, or maybe Zak does not want to change. He should be approaching his best years but in 56 Tests he has learned nothing. One sparkling innings and numerous failures, with an average of 31, is not good enough.”
Crawley had shown some signs of progress during the first Test at Headingley, and while Boycott did acknowledge the solid performance, the veteran was left baffled by Crawley's regression a week later in Birmingham.
“At Headingley, he played straight with the full face of the bat, left wide balls and let the ball come to him so he could keep his bat close to his pad.”
“The two shots he got out to at Edgbaston were awful,” Boycott wrote. “In the first innings his feet got stuck in cement, neither forward nor back, and then he wafted at the ball to be caught at slip. Second innings he batted on off stump and drove at a well-pitched-up ball two feet wide. He did not need to play it.”
Boycott on Woakes
Boycott was equally critical of Woakes, calling for England to move on from the 36-year-old. “It is counterproductive to keep the same guys in the team when they are past their sell-by date or not doing enough,” he wrote.
“Look at Chris Woakes. His pace is dropping as you would expect as a seamer gets older. He has never been a wicket-taker abroad, where his record is poor. He is good – or has been good – on English pitches, and his batting has been handy at times as a safety valve when others have failed. His job should not be to shore up bad batting. Batsmen are there to score runs and bowlers need to take wickets.”
The series is currently level at 1-1, with India registering a mammoth 336-run win in the second Test at Edgbaston. The action returns on Thursday when the two sides face at the iconic Lord's.
