Boycott sprays England's batters

Former England cricketer Geoffrey Boycott laments the state of play for England's opening batsmen.

[@punanny123]

Boycott always speaks his mind. I like that, at least he's not two faced like some Londoners and im a Londoner :)

[@TheIkaraCult]

I love listening to Boycott talk about cricket, he has the stereotype of the dour Yorkshireman but listening back to this you can see he's making constructive points and giving credit where he feels it's due. The value of expertise.

[@1981RichB]

Always talks sense does our Geoffrey! =)

[@shankaree20]

Hats off Sir ...

[@kevinmenezes8386]

People can say anything about Geoff that he was slow and selfish and cared only about his stats. But I agree with Dickie Bird, he was a tough guy, slogged it hard and definitely the guy to bat for your life.

[@selena7596]

I must say I love your observation on game Kevin

[@JA-oi4vj]

Stats are imp to as it helps the team win, If G. Boycott didnt average 51 in the WI in the 70´s and early 80´s, England would've had no chance.

[@memeguyTM]

Boycott, Sidhu, Chappel, Botham in the same commentary box!

[@4exgold]

damn....thought Boycott was actually going to chuck water at them.

[@andreasvehmer8516]

very good.knows the game does mr boycott

[@ayoungperson3408]

Boycs. Great Batsman, a road of common sense

[@johncourtneidge]

Thank-you!

[@cehlattin]

In the period 1968-86. Yorkshire were a team that lost most of its experienced team. Or in the cases of Illingworth and Close left altogether and went to Somerset and Leicestershire. Plus the policy of only selecting Yorkshire born player's whilst every other county had West Indians, South African, Australian and Indian players they could employ. Yorkshire with Boycott as captain never worked. He has admitted he shouldn't have taken the job. In 1983 they won The John Player League.

[@robertmason6366]

Good call with stokes

[@bringingtherukas7473]

Not enough Geordie's in the team.

[@WilliamSmith-mx6ze]

The only comparison I can find to Pietersen in the England dressing room 2005-14 is Boycott in the Yorkshire team 1971-86. So no doubt Boycott supports Pietersen. Both of them were superlative batsmen but played for themselves and dragged the side down as a result. Pietersen was worse than Boycott - texting the Saffers, provoking the KPGenius Twitter. Yorkshiremen are famously thin-skinned, but Afrikaners are even more thin-skinned - no sense of humour at all. It seems counter-intuitive to suggest KP averaging 60 should be dropped when the other batsmen average 30, but if KP drags the whole side down that's it. The question is not how many runs does each batsman average but does the side win? The individual batsman's ego is sublimated to the team's interest. Neither Pietersen nor Boycott realised this. Also, the issue of the strike rate. Are you scoring runs quickly enough that your team could win? I hope even Boycott would acknowledge that Boycott never took this into account, hence Yorkshire won so little between 1968 and 1986. With KP it was different; he scored runs where Boycott didn't, but he was such an arsehole no-one wanted to be near him.

[@Hill568]

Even though he is South African.

[@Rawrrro]

Born 21 October 1940 (age 73) Fitzwilliam, West Riding of Yorkshire, England

[@Hill568]

Rawrrro Not Boycott. Pietersen is South African. Born: June 27, 1980 (age 33), Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

[@Rawrrro]

woops lol i got confused there and yea pietersen he is obviously south african no denying that

[@lapalad]

+Hill568 Like a lot of the English team born n bred elsewhere

[@slothfromthegoonies8201]

South Africa's loss is England's gain.

[@Patriotindian157]

sir geoffry navjot sidhu loves u a lot

[@noncookiecutter6753]

Yeah kp might have moved above me in the all time runs but what me average ? What about his average ? I rest me case

[@sting281]

These comments have dated badly. We are in the Baz-Stokes era of fast-paced batting. The current English test team is one of the best ever.

[@darkstars-torpedoes-of-truth]

How are they going just now?

[@ryancarlo9328]

We still haven't won the Ashes and we haven't been challenged yet, not even by the Aussies.

[@darkstars-torpedoes-of-truth]

@@ryancarlo9328 T20 will never win test series, perhaps England should play in the IPL. When bazball failed, let's just change balls. Let's see you win in Australia, hasn't happend in 52 years and won't next ime either.

[@ryancarlo9328]

@@darkstars-torpedoes-of-truth mate, I was agreeing with you. We always do this though. We lose a big series; we cry out for change; we beat a few minor nations; we get excited; we 'fight valiantly' against the Aussies; we draw a big series; we go down under; you thrash us. Apart from Strauss and Flower's tenure (where we beat you 3-1 and bowled you for 98 remember?), I have never seen an England team etch a way out of this cycle. Anyway, enjoy your Ashes draw and impending Ashes win in a couple of years. Try not to be such sore winners as usual though, it's rather tiring.

[@Househead1200]

Batsmen.

[@YagaYooo]

testes

[@YagaYooo]

ooooooooooooh poo