"The two openers are walking wickets; England should consider opening with Dawid Malan" - Sir Geoffrey Boycott
Former England opener Sir Geoffrey Boycott has urged the English team to consider moving Dawid Malan to the top of the order. Boycott was reflecting on England's 275-run loss in the second Ashes Test in Adelaide and believes they need wholesale changes to compete with Australia.
England's batting unit let them down for the fourth time on the trot in this tour as Australia marched another step towards Ashes glory. The visitors started Day Five on 82-4, chasing 468 and managed only 192 in reply. The Boxing Day Test has become a must-win Test for them.
Writing in his column for the Telegraph, Sir Geoffrey Boycott stated that Dawid Malan's technique suits the Australian decks and England's top-order must perform. Criticizing the incumbent openers in Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed, Boycott wrote:
"England should consider opening with Dawid Malan. 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 time we accepted our batsmen are not good enough. The two openers are walking wickets and the Aussie bowlers are queuing up to get at them."
Buttler's weird dismissal, Richardson's five and a last-session finish... all the highlights from a tense day five! #Ashes
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The 81-year-old also feels there is a case for Joe Root batting at No. 3 as England have failed gloriously to put pressure on Australia. The cricketer-turned-commentator wrote in this regard:
"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. England have to do something different because they are not scoring enough runs to put Australia under any sort of scoreboard pressure."
Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed indeed have had a terrible time in this Ashes series thus far. The duo's highest stand has been 23 in four innings, including three single-figure partnerships. The same has put massive pressure on the English middle-order batters.
"Ollie Pope is making a mess of his opportunities" - Sir Geoffrey Boycott
Boycott shifted his focus to middle-order batter Ollie Pope for repeating the same mistakes and thinks his days in the team are numbered if he doesn't improve. Boycott continued:
"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."
The retired cricketer also questioned Chris Woakes' inclusion, stating he hardly offers anything with the ball. While Woakes scored an impressive 40 in the second innings, Boycott feels it's unjust to keep him for his batting and wrote:
"England keep selecting Chris Woakes for his late order runs to help out their fragile batting. His few runs can't offset his lack of wicket-taking ability abroad. In English conditions, Chris is an excellent bowler, a very good all-rounder - but his record abroad on flatter batting pitches is poor. Stop selecting him to protect our batsmen."
The third Ashes Test begins in Melbourne on December 26. The likes of Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins will bolster Australia's bowling unit and England need to put on a monumental performance to stage a comeback.