In his Daily Telegraph column, Boycott didn\u2019t mince words, slamming the \u201cstupid over-aggressive shots\u201d from several English batters and singling out Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope for scathing criticism.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cStop giving your wicket away to stupid over-aggressive shots because you can do better and England want more from you,\u201d wrote Boycott. \u201cThe coach Brendon McCullum is on record recently saying that England don\u2019t talk about Bazball and need to finetune their approach to batting. So no excuses any more.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
A notoriously blunt observer of the game, Boycott questioned Zak Crawley\u2019s place in the team, calling time on the opener\u2019s lengthy run despite repeated failures. \u201cHow many more chances is Crawley going to get? He has learned nothing in his 57 Tests. <\/p>\r\n\r\n
A waft in the first innings caught behind and a front-foot drive in the second innings to a wide sucker ball caught at gully. It was just a replay of too many of his dismissals. Time to go. Five hundreds and an average of 31 is not good enough.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Ollie Pope, too, was in the firing line, with Boycott accusing him of blindly adhering to the aggressive Bazball approach. \u201cHis problem is when he first goes in he is hyperactive, fidgety, like a cat on a hot tin roof. Pope starts like a millionaire, a shot a ball, as if he already has a hundred to his name,\u201d Boycott observed. <\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cEarly on the captain and coach sold Bazball to all the players and Ollie seems to have bought into it 100 percent and is so keen to show he is a disciple. Perhaps he feels he must play positive and aggressively or he won\u2019t keep his place.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In a pointed piece of advice, Boycott urged Pope to draw inspiration from England\u2019s most reliable batter. \u201cHe needs to go back to basic batting which is to assess the situation and bat accordingly, not bat slavishly to an ideology or how he thinks the captain and coach want him to play. Take a look at Joe Root. Joe does his own thing and makes runs and he is the best batsman in the world.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cEarly on the captain and coach sold Bazball to all the players and Ollie seems to have bought into it 100 percent and is so keen to show he is a disciple. Perhaps he feels he must play positive and aggressively or he won\u2019t keep his place.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Boycott added a final word of caution about the critical role of a No. 3 batter and how Crawley\u2019s presence at the top impacts the middle order. \u201cA number three is part opening bat if the team loses an early wicket and part middle order\u2026 able to play strokes after a good start by the openers. Fat chance of that with Crawley up front. Number three is a very specialist position. Most opposition bowlers can\u2019t wait to get their sweaters off to bowl at him. Can you imagine what the Australian seamers are thinking about this winter\u2019s Ashes series? If Starc doesn\u2019t get you, Hazlewood and Cummins will.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n