Persisting with Woakes, Crawley proving to be counter productive for England, says Boycott

New Delhi: Seamer Chris Woakes is past his prime and Zak Crawley don’t possess the ability to rectify his mistakes, reckons Geoffrey Boycott after watching England crash to a 336-run defeat to India in the second Test at Edgbaston.

Former opener Boycott criticised the senior duo’s performance in the first two matches of the series that is tied 1-1 and wondered by England are still willing to persist with them.

“It is counter productive to keep the same guys in the team when they are past their sell-by date or not doing enough,” Boycott said in his column for British daily The Telegraph.

Woakes is the home side’s most experienced bowler with 59 Test appearances, but he has claimed only three wicketsfor 290 runs in 82 overs across two games and has scored 50 runs in three innings with a top score of 38.

“Look at Chris Woakes. His pace is dropping as you would expect as a seamer gets older. He has never been a wicket-taker abroad, where his record is poor. He is good – or has been good – on English pitches, and his batting has been handy at times as a safety valve when others have failed,” Boycott said.

“His job should not be to shore up bad batting. Batsmen are there to score runs and bowlers need to take wickets.”

Boycott pointed to Woakes underwhelming record away from home and observed that ability wise he is not a patch on the retired James Anderson.

“Woakes has been a good cricketer but not a master craftsman like James Anderson, who took buckets full of wickets home and away consistently. Woakes also has a poor record in Australia that is highly unlikely to change at the age of 36,” he said.

Like Michael Vaughan, Boycott also questioned the batting approach of Crawley, which has fetched only one half century in four innings so far.

“I don’t think he can change or get better. Batting is in the head and the brain dictates how you approach batting: what shots you attempt, what balls you leave. His faults in technique and thinking are ingrained,” Boycott said.

“A leopard doesn’t change his spots, or maybe Zak does not want to change. He should be approaching his best years but in 56 Tests he has learned nothing. One sparkling innings and numerous failures, with an average of 31, is not good enough.”