Sir Geoffrey Boycott said that England are perfectly capable of defeating Australia in the second Test but that can only be done if captain Ben Stokes and Co don’t depend on relentlessly attacking the game in spite of the situation dictating otherwise. Stokes had irked a lot of former players with his comments where he had called them has-beens. He has since said that he could have chosen his words more carefully.
“England can beat Australia in Brisbane. Man for man, they are more talented than the Aussies but it doesn’t help our chances of success if Ben Stokes keeps encouraging our batsmen to attack, attack with one finger hovering over the self-destruct button. Nobody is asking the players to stop being positive because they have given us some marvellous, thrilling and entertaining cricket. All we ask is for them to use their brains and realise there are times when they should throttle back and be aware of situations and bat accordingly. These Australians are not unbeatable but our England team keeps giving them ways back into the game,” Boycott wrote in his column in The Telegraph UK.
“When the great golfer Jack Nicklaus was asked which was his favourite golf club, he pointed to his head. It’s what goes on upstairs that matters. It’s too late to be making adjustments to technique and anyway, it is no good talking to Zak Crawley about technique because he hasn’t got one. You want the guys upbeat and ready for the fight. At this stage, it won’t help to point out their faults or put negative thoughts in their heads, so they daren’t play any strokes. Just think on your feet and don’t keep making the same mistakes over and over again. That is not smart. At this level, nobody should have to tell a batsman how to bat, which shots not to play. If a player cannot work it out for himself, then they should find a replacement. England threw away the Ashes in England in 2024 with reckless, stupid batting, so don’t do the same again.
The Ashes was off to a newsworthy start when the 1st Test in Perth couldn’t last 2 whole days with 19 wickets falling on Day 1, followed by 13 wickets on Day 2 which included England’s second innings where the Bazballers could only set a 205-run target for the hosts even after leading by 40 runs after Australia’s 1st innings.
Travis Head pulled off one of the most miraculous Ashes century when he slammed 123 runs off 83 balls while Marnus Labuscagne scored a half century as Australia won the Test by 8 wickets and took 1-0 lead in the series.