Geoffrey Boycott burns ‘reckless, cocky’ England after ‘best team’ India hand Ben Stokes and Co. Bazball reality

England are currently in a tricky position in the World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle standings, they are placed at the eighth spot with just three wins in nine matches.

Boycott, who is very vocal about his opinions, praised England for giving Test cricket a boost with their ultra-attacking approach but criticised their inconsistent show against big teams.

“Bazball has given Test cricket a shot in the arm and England deserve praise for that. At times, I love it. But I love winning more and England have failed to beat the best two teams in the world: Australia and now India. What should really hurt them is that they should have beaten both,” wrote Boycott in The Telegraph.

The English batters failed to get consistency in the Test series against India as players like Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett and Ben Stokes looked good in phases but failed to get their team over the line. On the other hand, Joe Root and Ollie Pope who have solid techniques and temperament have scored a century each but lacked consistency.

Boycott also pointed out England’s batters’ dismal show in the quest to play an ultra-attacking brand of cricket.

“The batting cost them winning the Ashes and it lost them the series against India. In this series, they have had odd moments when someone has scored a good hundred. But they have been in isolation and there has been no consistency. Zak Crawley is the one England player averaging over 40. Six of the Indian players have averages higher than 43. I know they all have to buy into the Bazball mantra because that is all they talk about,” he added.

Dissecting England’s fearless approach, England were reckless with their batting and got out in an attempt to smack every bowler.

To play with no fear is good, but at times England were reckless and too cocky about how they were going to smack everybody around. Getting out is part of the game but getting yourself out is silly,” Boycott added.