“Ben Stokes is not a messiah”: Geoffrey Boycott slams Ben Stokes after poor show in first Ashes Test at The Gabba in Brisbane

Geoffrey Boycott slams Ben Stokes after a poor outing with with both bat and ball in the first Ashes 2021-22 Test match at The Gabba.

Former England player Geoffrey Boycott came down heavily on star England all rounder Ben Stokes after latter’s humbling outing in the first Ashes Test at The Gabba.

Stokes had a pretty ordinary return to International Cricket, as he failed to impress with both bat and ball during England’s one-sided 9-wicket defeat which lasted for mere 3 1/2 days.

He returned with scores of 5 and 14 in the two innings and went wicketless in the 12 Overs he bowled in the first innings, conceding runs at an average of 5.4 per Over.

Geoffrey Boycott slams Ben Stokes

Former England player and renowned commentator Geoffrey Boycott has slammed the Southpaw all rounder and came down heavily on all the hype created around him in the build-up of Ashes 2021-22.

Expressing his views while writing for The Telegraph, Boycott exclaimed that too much of an over-reliance on Stokes is doing the English side no good and that other players need to step up big time.

“Ben Stokes needed to play more cricket. All the hype that he’s back and what he brings to the dressing room is b***s**t. He is not a messiah. He can’t bat and bowl for everyone. Ben hasn’t played for five months, had a finger operation and rain ruined his practice. Then his first knock was on a testing pitch against, in my view, the two best seam bowlers in the world – Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood,” Boycott wrote in his column for The Telegraph.

It is worth of a mention that this was Stokes’ return to International Cricket after five months, as he took a break from Cricket over personal ‘mental well-being concerns’ and an injured finger which recently got operated. He had also mentioned a scaring experience he had gone through during his recovery process.

He clearly looked out of sorts, especially with the ball in hand, as he bowled a total of 14 No-Balls which amusingly went unnoticed due to a technical glitch from the broadcaster’s end and lack of proper communication between the officials concerned.

Boycott further expressed his amusement over the expectation of a magical performance out of the Blue immediately after his return.

“That would be tough for any batsman in good form. Too many players expected some magic from our talismanic all-rounder. His second innings dismissal showed his lack of cricket as he got in a tangle with a bit of bounce. In good nick, there is every chance he would have played it differently.” he further added.

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