Geoffrey Boycott Slams England Wicketkeeper Jamie Smith: 'Daft As A Brush'
Geoffrey Boycott criticized England's Ben Stokes and Jamie Smith for their performances against India in the Headingley Test.
Legendary former England opener Geoffrey Boycott was not too impressed with some of the current crop for their performances against India in the ongoing Headingley Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. He was particularly critical of captain Ben Stokes for 'fishing outside the off-stump' and Jamie Smith, calling the latter 'daft as a brush' for his attempted hook to get out for 40 on Day 3 of the match.
England put up 465/10 in their first innings. Like their opponents, who scored 471, they could have had more if not for some rash shots at the wrong moments. But they could also have had much less, if not for India's fielding blunders. Smith looked in stellar touch for his 40 but fell into Prasidh Krishna's short ball ploy, top-edging a pull to deep square leg where Ravindra Jadeja and Sai Sudharsan combined for a catch.
'I'll start at the beginning," Boycott told The Telegraph. 'Pope out early to a wide shot, just flashed outside and he never made any more runs. Stokes fishing outside offstump. Brook dropped at 82 but didn't matter. It was costly after that no ball on nought last night and he's made 99 runs. He got to 99 playing beautifully. Prasidh bounced him and he goes to hook it out the park and holes out to fine leg. Bit of a disappointment really but the 99 runs that came were marvellous," he added.
'Smith at the other end made 40. He hooked a bouncer for a six and then he wanted another one. Missed it. Then he hooked another one and holed out on the boundary. Daft as a brush, that, for me," he said.
Summarising the day, he reserved special praise for Harry Brook — who scored 99 — and Jasprit Bumrah — who took a five-wicket haul.
'Another marvellous day of cricket at Headingley. Day 3. Ebbed and flowed. Not sure who's ahead at the moment actually. But we were treated to some magnificent bowling by Jasprit Bumrah. He got a fifer. And Harry Brook. Absolutely entertaining 99. He treated his home crowd to some delightful, delicious, majestic strokes. Just over run a ball. Thrilling batting but took the breath away at times. And it took the match away from India when India were getting a hold of it."
India's third innings brought the game back into balance at Stumps on Day 4. England need 350 runs to win on Day 5 with all wickets remaining.
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