England cricket legend Geoffrey Boycott believes it will be “tough” for the Joe Root-led England side to beat Australia in the Ashes to be held in November this year. Boycott wrote in his column for The Guardian, “Winning in Australia is extremely difficult and requires will, commitment and 100 per cent focus.”
He talked about the trouble of English players with strict quarantine conditions. There have been discussions between the cricket boards of Australia and England regarding the easing of the Kovid-19 quarantine rules in the island nation.
Boycott wrote, “Time for the England players to decently focus on the “Will I, Will I not I” tour of the Ashes, now is the time to focus on beating Australia.
The former England cricketer, who is widely respected for his plain speaking, said he supports English’s demands on quarantine. “They’ve been in a bubble for two summers, and it’s like living in a luxury prison. It would be a comfort to have family and kids with them. But now it’s resolved that they have a bigger challenge to overcome.”
England announced the 17-man Ashes squad on Sunday. Star all-rounder Ben Stokes and pacer Jofra Archer are both injured among those absent from Joe Root’s team.
When it comes to the upper hand on the field, Boycott believes it is Australia. He said the Australian bowling unit would be a force to be reckoned with on their home soil.
But Boycott argues that the Australian batsmen are out of form. “The biggest positive for our bowling unit is that Australia are not great at batting either. They have three good players: Warner, Steve Smith and new guy Marnus Labuschagne,” Boycott said.
Like most of us, Boycott also believes that Joe Root is England’s main player. “He is in the form of his life, he is at the peak age for a batsman and it is this tour to matter. Sadly, he doesn’t have very good batting behind him,” Boycott said.
The first Ashes Test will begin on December 8 at the Gabba in Brisbane. In the absence of Stokes and Archer, England are facing a formidable challenge as they hope to make a comeback in the series.
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