Geoffrey Boycott slams Zak Crawley, says he doesn’t think England opener can change or get better

Former England batter Sir Geoffrey Boycott has called out Zak Crawley’s poor performance in the second Test match against India at Edgbaston, Birmingham. Crawley, who had scored a crucial knock of 65 runs in the second innings at Leeds, could not get going in the second Test. The lanky batter returned with scores of 19 and 0 as he got out to poor shots in both innings. 

The England opener played away from the body in both innings, which led to his downfall. The 27-year-old from Kent has scored 3111 runs in 56 Test matches at an average of 31.11 and thus hasn’t been consistent for the Three Lions.

Sir Geoffrey Boycott wrote in his column for the Telegraph, “I don’t think he can change or get better. Batting is in the head and the brain dictates how you approach batting: what shots you attempt, what balls you leave. His faults in technique and thinking are ingrained. A leopard doesn’t change his spots, or maybe Zak does not want to change. He should be approaching his best years but in 56 Tests he has learned nothing.”

Boycott slammed Crawley’s shot selection in both innings of the second Test.

“Just when you think the penny has dropped for Zak Crawley he resorts to his old bad ways. At Headingley, he played straight with the full face of the bat, left wide balls and let the ball come to him so he could keep his bat close to his pad. The two shots he got out to at Edgbaston were awful. In the first innings his feet got stuck in cement, neither forward nor back, and then he wafted at the ball to be caught at slip. Second innings, he batted on off stump and drove at a well pitched up ball two feet wide. He did not need to play it.”

On the other hand, England captain Ben Stokes returned with scores of 0 and 33 in the second Test against the visitors. In the opening Test of the series, Stokes had scored 20 and 33. Boycott said Stokes’ poor form with the bat is not helping the home team.

Boycott added, “It is not helping England that Stokes is in such poor form with the bat. When he is playing well he is a dynamic, match-winning batsman. He can thump seam or spin to all parts of the ground. We have seen him do it magnificently. But he does have a problem on a wearing pitch when the ball turns and occasionally jumps.”

The third Test match between India and England will be played at Lord’s, London from 10th July onwards.