They Got What They Deserved In The End - Ian Botham Lambasts England's Rest And Rotation Policy After Series Loss To New Zealand

Former England all-rounder Ian Botham is utterly furious with England’s rest and rotation player policy over the last year since cricket resumed in the pandemic. The selectors and management have rested players from crucial Test matches to keep them physically and mentally fit for the T20 matches as well as their long-term plan of the Ashes.

The likes of Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Moeen Ali, Mark Wood, and Jonny Bairstow have missed some Test matches for being rested.

However, this hasn’t gone down well with most of the former cricketers, including Ian Botham, who reckons this policy is “absolute garbage”. He demands that the players keep themselves fit and play all the games for their country.

“I am not sure we are picking the right players. Rotation, I think, is the biggest load of b******s of all time. Absolute garbage. I tell you what, I would like to have seen someone say to me when I was playing “well done, but you’re having a rest next game”. Err, no I’m not. Bowl, get fit and stay fit by bowling,” Ian Botham wrote in The Daily Mail.

They got what they deserved in the end: Ian Botham

Ian Botham blasted the side for not trying to chase the target of 273 runs on the fifth day in the first Test against New Zealand. The England batting line-up, sans Buttler and Stokes, decided to bat for a draw.

They would then go on to lose the second Test versus the Kiwis, which the legendary all-rounder says the team deserved losing the series – their first home series loss in 7 years.

“I think our batting is a big worry. Last month, England had a great opportunity at Lord’s when they were given the opportunity of a last-day run chase against New Zealand. People had been waiting for months and months to see live sport and to go out and bat like that in the final innings with no intent was appalling.

“I thought ‘you guys need to wake up a bit, you rely on the public’. Their reason for why they didn’t do it was because Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes weren’t playing. Excuse me. That gives a chance for someone else to come through. I thought it was very weak. They got what they deserved in the end, to be quite frank,” the 65-year-old further stated.

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