Boycott turns traitor

Permanently bitter professional Yorkshireman Geoffrey Boycott insists England are in no shape to reclaim the Ashes from Australia this summer.

Boycott has concerns over the England captaincy, the batting order, the lunch menu, the parking spaces, the lack of Yorkshiremen in the team and what he sees as an inability to get the maximum out of the players available.

"England are not in great shape," the former rather unsuccessful England skipper and turncoat told BBC One's Inside Sport.
"Can they win the Ashes? No, I think they will draw if anything, and the Australians will retain them."

Boycott pointed to England's winter of discontent, where they struggled on and off the field, as a major reason for their difficulties. The stereotypical Tyke, who made made 108 Test match appearances for England, highlighted the fall-out from the Stanford Super Series and Kevin Pietersen's resignation as captain as particularly damaging. The irony of having a disruptive, selfish player in the England dressing room was surprisingly lost on the self styled 'Sir' Geoffrey.

Boycott believes the issue of captaincy has yet to be resolved, despite the appointment of Andrew Strauss, who was voted England's player of the year on Monday for the second time in his career. "They've got Andrew Strauss who is quite a nice lad - he will do a decent job - but I'm not convinced he is a natural captain. It's a gift, to look after 10 other people and also to still look after your own game and play well, and at the same time be thinking two steps ahead of the game. When you're captain you can't just wait for things to happen. The great captains are thinking ahead." Thinking of how many runs they are going to accumulate Geoffrey? This is the Geoff Boycott who was once deliberately run out by Ian Botham in New Zealand, when batting for his average rather than the team.

Jardine's Verdict: Never known for his subtle approach. Tired old Geoffrey has done it again, putting the boot in on the eve of the first test of the year. Whilst some of his observations are not the wild rantings of a lunatic they are done with only one thing in mind. Promoting Geoffrey Boycott. Once again "Sir" Geoffrey has put himself in front of his test team. Thankfully nobody takes the old codger seriously any more!!