Opinion

‘I Love it, But I Love Winning More’: Geoffrey Boycott on Bazball

Written by Vishwas Gupta

Former England cricketer Geoffrey Boycott is the latest addition to the list of individuals questioning the Ben Stokes-led side’s performance in Test cricket.

Boycott acknowledged his side’s aggressive form of cricket and said that the English cricket team deserved praise for the entertaining gameplay. But at the same time, the ex-cricketer stated that he loves winning more.

In his column for The Telegraph, he wrote, “Bazball has given Test cricket a shot in the arm and England deserves praise for that. At times, I love it. But I love winning more and England has failed to beat the best two teams in the world: Australia and now India”.

Geoffrey Boycott is referring to England drawing the Ashes early last year against Australia. While playing at home, the Brendon McCullum-coached side failed to win the Ashes, as the Aussies retained the prized trophy by levelling the series 2-2. In his article, Boycott said, “The batting cost them winning the Ashes.”

“England only had 192 to defend. I like Stokes’s captaincy but I thought he made a big error by opening the bowling with two spinners, Root and Tom Hartley. In 25 minutes at the end of day three India easily scored 40 priceless runs. What is just as important is that it gave their innings momentum. It was imperative to make runs hard to come by,” Geoffrey Boycott wrote.

About the author

Vishwas Gupta