“Join A Circus”: England Great Blasts Ben Stokes And Co, Namedrops IPL In Rant

Former England player Geoffrey Boycott has recently criticized the England cricket team for their poor performance. Jos Buttler-led England had a forgettable ODI World Cup in India. In the quadrennial tournament, the team finished seventh in the ten-team table, with just three wins. Things got worse for England as the team’s much talked about ‘Bazball’ approach to the Test format saw them lose 1-4 to India. Boycott stated that “Test cricket is not an exhibition” and players should “join a circus” if results did not matter to them.

“All we have had in the last few months is the Twenty20 World Cup in the Caribbean where England performed poorly, the Indian Premier League which helped some of our moderate to medium Test players get rich, and before that a miserable 4 – 1 Test series defeat in India, where England started well but were ultimately defeated,” wrote Boycott in his column on Telegraph.

“In India last winter, ego and arrogance got the better of some of our players. They made comments about being entertainers and how important it was to score goals quickly and thrill the crowds. All of this is commendable, but they must never lose Keep in mind that there is a winner and a loser and losing is not much fun.

“Test cricket is not an exhibition. If our players start to think that results don’t matter, then they might as well join a circus or go around the world like the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team doing tricks, laughing and playing around and not caring who wins, as long as everyone has fun.

The England cricket team returned to the sport’s longest format with the first Test against the West Indies being played at Lord’s. The match which began on Wednesday is also the last international appearance for English great James Anderson.