Cricket: Boycott slams England 'shambles'

Boycott praised James Anderson but said England were over-reliant on him. Photo / Paul Taylor

Geoffrey Boycott says the way in which English cricket has been run lately amounted to a "shambles" ahead of this week's first test against New Zealand.

England crashed out of the World Cup at the group stage and then managed only a 1-1 test series draw in the Caribbean against the West Indies.

There was off-field upheaval, too, with news of former England coach Peter Moores' sacking becoming public knowledge before he had been told and the mixed messages from officialdom over the international future of still-exiled star batsman Kevin Pietersen.

"The last six months have been traumatic for England," wrote Boycott in Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper. "Our cricket has been poor and the administration of our game a shambles."

The former England opener said it had been a "monumental mistake" to recall Jonathan Trott for all three tests in the Caribbean only for the batsman to subsequently announce his international retirement.

The 74-year-old was also unimpressed with the balance of England captain Alastair Cook's attack against the West Indies.

"Going into the tests in the Caribbean with four seamers on sub-continental style slow, dry, turning pitches was unbelievably stupid," he said. "I am not saying this with the luxury of hindsight either - I said so at the time.

"If Cook had read the pitches better and not been so inflexible, England would have picked another spinner to winkle batsmen out and won all three test matches."

Boycott praised James Anderson but said England were over-reliant on him.

- AAP