Former England opener Geoffrey Boycott has strongly criticized stand-in captain Joe Root after the national team’s defeat during the second Test against New Zealand at the Oval. The former England cricketer said that Stokes’ return will be a big boost to the team ahead of the series decider.
England suffered a crushing defeat by 253 runs in the second test against New Zealand. The visiting team leveled the three-match series 1-1. Chasing a target of 463, England were all out for 209 due to a batting collapse on the final day. The home team will try to seal the series by making a comeback in the third Test.
Thank heaven Ben Stokes is back – Geoffrey Boycott criticizes Joe Root’s captaincy
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has confirmed the return of Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson to the team.. In his latest column for The Telegraph, Geoffrey Boycott praised Joe Root’s batting, but questioned his leadership during the second Test loss to New Zealand.
“Thank God Ben Stokes will be back to lead England at Trent Bridge as it appears Joe Root has learned nothing from his last stint as England captain.”
“Now that Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson have retired from Test match cricket, Root is unquestionably the best batsman in the world. What a wonderful thing to say about a brilliant player who everyone adores, including me.”
Seems like the same mistakes are being made – Geoffrey Boycott compares the captaincy of Joe Root and Ben Stokes
Geoffrey Boycott believes that Ben Stokes manages fast bowlers much better than Joe Root. The former England batsman said Root repeated some of the same mistakes that plagued his previous captaincy, especially the way he handled Joffra Archer’s charge.
“Stokes is very good at handling Jofra Archer while Joe looked to be making the same mistakes at the Oval as he did when captaining England in New Zealand in 2019.”
“In a Test match at Mount Maunganui, he bowled 42 overs to Archer in an innings, which was too many for any fast bowler but a huge amount for a young bowler new to Test cricket.”
“On top of that, Joe bowled a long spell of short balls from him. Bowling a bouncer requires a lot of effort from a fast bowler and it can take a lot out of him. Bowling short balls repeatedly can lead to back or arm injuries.”
It was madness – Geoffrey Boycott criticizes Joe Root’s behavior with Jofra Archer
After missing the first match of the series against New Zealand, Jofra Archer returned to England’s playing eleven for the second Test. The fast bowler took two wickets in the first innings at the Oval and took more wickets in the second innings.
However, Geoffrey Boycott criticized Joe Root for asking Archer to bowl a long spell of short-pitched balls on the opening day. Boycott argued that England should manage Archer’s workload carefully given his history of elbow injuries.
“Jofra has a special talent with a whippy arm action that produces unusual bounce, which, combined with his extraordinary pace, troubles batsmen. Everyone knows he has got more injuries than his bowling elbow.”
“It was crazy to have Joe bowl an eight-over spell with a lot of short balls targeting New Zealand batsman Glenn Phillips and tail-enders at the end of the first day at the Oval.”
“In cricket terms it was not smart and was not taking care of your particular asset. It was also not the best way to take wickets. The bouncer is best used as a surprise ball in between trying to hit the stumps.”
“The great England fast bowler Brian Statham was a good tail-end wicket-taker and he used to bowl straight, saying, ‘If they miss I hit’.”
