Former England captain Geoffrey Boycott has slammed Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum for their rigid approach in continuing with Zak Crawley, despite the opener’s struggles.Boycott said he is amazed by the fact that the England cricket management is not looking for another opener.“People ask me: ‘Haven’t we got another opener in county cricket?’ I say: ‘I don’t think the hierarchy are looking.’ It’s a members’ club and if you are in it… you can’t get out,” Boycott wrote in his column for The Telegraph.“Zak Crawley is a lucky lad because there is an old saying in cricket: ‘Never change a winning team.’“I don’t believe that, but some do, and because they won, England will be tempted to pick the same players. I believe in another saying: ‘When you are winning, that is when you should try to improve your team.’”
The 27-year-old has already played 57 Tests for England and is averaging 30.89.“How many more chances is Crawley going to get? He has learned nothing in his 57 Tests,” he said.“A waft in the first innings, caught behind, and a front-foot drive in the second innings to a wide sucker ball, caught at gully.
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“It was just a replay of too many of his dismissals. Time to go. Five hundreds and an average of 31 is not good enough.”Boycott said the Australian troika of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood will be waiting for Crawley to play in the Ashes, and it is not a good sign for the England team.“Most opposition bowlers can’t wait to get their sweaters off to bowl at him. Can you imagine what the Australian seamers are thinking about this winter’s Ashes series?“If Starc doesn’t get you, Hazlewood and Cummins will.”
