Former England player Geoffrey Boycott has opened up on Jos Buttler’s current form and stated that he should not play in the longer format. Boycott also wants Jonny Bairstow to keep the wicket, as he is better than Buttler in Test.
However, Buttler has been going through a poor form with the bat as well as with the gloves during the ongoing Ashes Test series. He has an average of 16, with a best of 39, across four Tests and seven innings.
Moreover, he also dropped a few catches in Adelaide Test. In his column for The Telegraph, Boycott wrote:
“It’s time to move on from Buttler. England can’t be sentimental or be seduced by his brilliant performances in one-day cricket. The fact is he isn’t doing enough to keep his Test place. He only has two centuries in 57 Test matches. In the Ashes, he has played 14 Test matches, and averaged 19. That isn’t good enough. Buttler should now go. He isn’t as good a wicketkeeper as Bairstow, and Bairstow is a better batsman against quality bowlers – that’s the important thing. For some time now, Buttler hasn’t delivered in Test cricket when the pressure is on.”
No country can win Test matches if the top-order doesn’t perform – Geoffrey Boycott
Meanwhile, Jos Buttler won’t take part in the final Test in Hobart due to a finger injury, as Joe Root informed. Geoffrey Boycott also lashed out at their constant top-order failures. The legendary cricketer said:
“England or any other country can’t win Test matches if they keep being three or four wickets down for next to nothing; they were 36-4 in the first innings, and all through the series, it’s been like that. The middle and lower order are nearly always fighting an uphill battle by the time they come in. The opposition fast bowlers are on top and high on confidence.”
“Bairstow looks as if he has turned the corner with his batting – about time, too. It shouldn’t have taken that long to solve his problems. It’s not as if he has never done it at Test level because this is his seventh century, to go with 22 half-centuries. He might not be able to play the next Test match because of his thumb injury, and if he does play, keeping wickets with a damaged thumb would be stupid,” Geoffrey Boycott concluded.
Meanwhile, the final Ashes Test will begin on 14th January in Hobart.
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