Former England opening batsman Sir Geoffrey Boycott has teed off on the English batters, labelling the openers as “walking wickets”.
On the verge of Ashes defeat after falling into a 2-0 deficit last night, much of England’s criticism has been directed at the batting unit.
England’s openers – Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed – have both struggled.
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Through four innings, Hameed has posted scores of 25, 27, 6 and 0, while Burns has managed 0, 13, 4 and 34.
“It’s time we accepted that our batsmen are not good enough. The two openers are walking wickets and the Aussie bowlers are queuing up to get at them,” Boycott wrote in the UK Telegraph.
“We compliment Rory Burns for his determination and strength of character but that can’t make up for an awful technique.
“He just looks ugly with his feet and arms all over the place.
“How can you be young, talented, have a good technique and still keep failing? Ask Ollie Pope who is making a mess of his opportunities.
“He has only scored 48 runs in four innings. England can’t keep waiting for the penny to drop in Ollie’s head. If he doesn’t learn, he will have to go.”
Boycott suggested that Malan, who on two occasions this series has produced 80 runs or more, should open the batting while skipper Joe Root should shift to batting at no.3.
Despite getting out for a duck during the first innings of the first Test, Root produced a score of 89 while continuing his form with the bat in the second Test with a score of 62 in the first innings.
“England should consider opening with Dawid Malan,” he said.
“His technique of staying back, judging what to leave and playing straight is good.
“It is so important for team morale, and to achieve big totals, you should have successful opening bats.”
“It’s not ideal but Joe Root at some stage may have to bat at three. He doesn’t like it and I agree it is not best asking your star batsman to move from his favourite number four spot.”
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