Geoffrey Boycott Highlights The Vulnerability Of England Openers, Feels Club Players Can Do Better

Former England cricketer Geoffrey Boycott has pointed out the mistakes that have been done by the England openers in recent times and he wasn’t happy with their techniques on display. Rory Burns and Dom Sibley haven’t had a great opening stand which has raised a lot of concerns over their batting techniques.

They aren’t free-flowing players and tend to take a lot of time in the crease to get settled. Rory Burns scored a duck and just 18 runs in the first test while his opening partner scored 18 and 28 runs in the two innings respectively. England was on the verge of losing the first test after a poor batting performance in the first innings and the rain gods helped them out for a draw.

“He Creates Enormous Pressure On Himself” – Geoffrey Boycott On Dom Sibley

Geoffrey Boycott mentioned that the England openers need to improve their game in Tests on his telegraph column and stressed on Sibley’s inability to rotate strike constantly has been a major issue. He added that Sibley hasn’t played many strokes and with the scoreboard not ticking, it has been creating pressure on himself creating his downfall.

“Not just former Test players but even club players look at Rory Burns and Dom Sibley and think they can do better.”

“Sibley is the opposite of Crawley. He has stickability but his lack of strokes hurts him. He cannot rotate the strike, so if he cannot move his score along, and the team’s score, then he creates enormous pressure on himself,”

“Burns is like Sibley. First innings he lasted five balls. It was a repeat of previous dismissals. He started his front foot forward on the wrong side of the ball and then realised he had picked the wrong length,” Geoffrey Boycott wrote in his Telegraph column

Geoffrey Boycott Woes On Jos Buttler’s Struggles

The England wicket-keeper batsmen Jos Buttler was dismissed for a duck in England’s first innings and Geoffrey Boycott hinted at the footwork of Buttler not helping his cause. He notified that Buttler could have been dismissed 7 times in the 18 balls he faced and he added about the lack of red-ball cricket taking a toll on these players.

“Jos Buttler is a sad tale. In the first innings he got nought off 18 balls and could have been out about seven times. His footwork and judgement were non-existent, but it is not surprising because he has not played any four-day matches.

“Many of our batsmen don’t get enough preparation before Tests with proper county cricket.” He added

Joe Root looked like the most solid batsman from the England batting lineup against India in the first Test and he scored a century in the second innings following his half-century in the first innings.