Kmflett's Blog

After Nigel Farage posted a video on the Telegraph site claiming he had cancelled a visit to the Ashes Test in Melbourne because the England team are ‘terrible’. Geoffrey Boycott has posted a rather more informed view also in the Telegraph.

Boycott has supported Farage in the past, and one of the few genuine things about the Reform boss is an interest in cricket. Whether Boycott still backs him I don’t know but he certainly does not support his view on the Melbourne Test which England won.

Boycott has at best a chequered past but like a stopped clock he can occasionally be right. He is correct that the ‘ECB suits’ chasing the (much needed) money that short form cricket can bring have walked away from the grassroots of the game at County level. And its the Counties that should provide players for England although not so much in the Brendan McCullum era.

Melbourne aside there is a lot to criticise about the recent performances of the England team and without question supporters are unhappy and viewers at home likewise. The danger is that cricket at the top level gets into a spiral where there is less public interest and with that will come less media interest. After all the idea of televising sport is to get big audiences that drive advertising revenue and at the same payment money to the ECB suits…

Boycott in the Telegraph 28th December

England won the Boxing Day Test because they played better cricket than Australia. It was no fluke. Winning the toss was a bit of good luck, but England’s bowling in the second innings was excellent…

Too many modern guys go hard at the ball. Our top batsmen play very little county cricket and almost nothing on tours outside Test matches. Nets alone will not help batsmen master the technique of playing the moving ball. Sadly, the ECB suits have them playing more and more 50-over, T20 and Hundred cricket because it brings in lots of money. And we know how money is their idea of success, not winning the Ashes or being the best team in the world.