"There's No Glory In..." - Geoffrey Boycott Slams England's "Bazball" Theory After Vizag Test Loss

Former England cricketer Geoffrey Boycott took down the “Bazball” theory after England’s loss to India in the second test in Vizag. England won the first Test by 28 and were leading the series heading into the second Test.

England lost the second Test by 106 runs as they failed to chase 399 for victory. They were bowled out for 292 in the second innings with Zak Crawley top-scoring with 76 in the second innings. England lost the wickets of Ollie Pope, Joe Root, and Ben Stokes at key junctures of the game to hand the initiative to India.

England needed 332 runs and had nine wickets in hand. There were talks about England’s challenge to finish the game on the fourth day itself. However, as it turned out, England lost by a big margin in the end.

“Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes are besotted with attack, attack, attack. It’s as if they say ‘if we can’t win, we will go down in glorious failure instead.’ But there is no glory in failure or defeat,” Boycott wrote in his column on The Telegraph.

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Bazball Was A Failure In Vizag: Geoffrey Boycott on England’s Loss

“Bazball is great entertainment when it comes off. But once you believe in an ideal over substance, then you have lost the plot. Today England gave the match away. Bazball was a failure” Boycott further wrote in his column.

He further blamed Bazball as the reason behind Joe Root losing his wicket early in the manner that he did. The wickets of Pope, Jonny Bairstow, and Crawley at the stroke of lunch further pegged back England’s chances of a win.

“Scoring at five an over was entertaining but too many batsmen gave their wickets away after good starts. The best way to achieve a total of nearly 400 is by one of the batsmen scoring a big hundred. Looking to go after good bowlers and scoring quickly comes with risk. Bazball cost Joe Root his wicket.

“As soon as he came in, he was dancing down the pitch trying to hit it over the top and very soon swiped it up in the air. He only scored 16. England’s best technical batsman is normally a busy player who scores at a good rate, but trying to go after the bowling as soon as he comes in takes him out of his comfort zone,” Boycott wrote in his column.

The veteran England cricketer further said that executing T20-style cricket in Test cricket was the primary cause behind their loss in the second Test against India. He further urged the visitors to play with common sense and understanding.

“Twenty20 cricket seems to have got in their head and made them think that every ball must be scored off with an aggressive stroke, sweep, swipe or cross-batted shot. Twenty20 is cricket’s answer to baseball, where you attempt a big hit every time. England’s batting resembled Twenty20. But why can’t our team play positively and with common sense? Batting has always been about being able to adapt to the circumstances, whether that is conditions or the opponents. Pick your moments when to attack and defend,” Boycott concluded saying.

England are on a break to Abu Dhabi after the loss in Vizag. The third Test starts in Rajkot on February 15.

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