London, June 28: Legendary opener Geoffrey Boycott believes that if England’s motto in the ongoing Ashes is to just entertain the crowds in various stadiums, then they can just well be a circus instead of a cricket team aiming to win a series.
Ahead of the Lord’s Test starting from Wednesday, England are 1-0 down in the five-game series after a two-wicket defeat to Australia in a thrilling first Test at Edgbaston.
Captain Ben Stokes was criticised by various experts for his surprise declaration on day one’s play in the first Test.
“When you get ahead of yourself — and that’s what England did — they stopped thinking. If you’re going to just entertain, they might as well be a circus. That’s it, go be a professional circus around the world.
If you ask people in England ‘Do you want to win the Ashes, or do you want to entertain and lose?’, I know what the answer will be,” said Boycott on The Telegraph’s Vaughany and Tuffers Cricket Club podcast.
Boycott also pointed out that England need to balance the entertainment and winning quotient.
“I enjoyed the cricket, it kept you on the edge of your seat. England were winning every session, but they didn’t win the match, and that should tell them something for the next Test.
They lost sight of the fact that the object is to win and then if you want to entertain then yes, by all means. But why can’t you win and entertain?” he said.
On the other side, former England captain Nasser Hussain insisted that Stokes & Co. deeply value winning Test matches, but urged people to see the bigger picture behind their ultra-attacking style of play.
“All we have seen since that (first) Test are comments on the merits of Bazball and whether it can win the Ashes. We must also remember that, whatever England say about not being a results-based side, the reason they have introduced this style is to maximise their chances of winning,” said Hussain.
“I have wanted England to win the whole of my life. But, as a 55-year-old, I do now see the bigger picture. When I left Edgbaston I looked at the crowd and the record viewing figures on Sky and thought, ‘Yes, we want a bit more of that’,” he concluded.
IANS