England cricket great takes aim at Ben Stokes' side amid Bazball 'circus'

England cricket great Sir Geoffrey Boycott has warned Ben Stokes' side not to lose sight of what is important in their relentless quest to entertain, ahead of the second Ashes Test. England head into the Lord's Test 1-0 down against Australia, but have vowed to play even more aggressively under their 'Bazball' system that has captured the cricket world's attention.

Boycott agrees with most that it has been exciting to watch England's brand of Test cricket but insists it will count for very little if they don't get the results to back it up. The legendary former England batter said Stokes' men got ahead of themselves and "stopped thinking" clearly in the first Test - no doubt alluding to the England captain's questionable first innings declaration on day one.

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“I enjoyed the cricket, it kept you on the edge of your seat,” Boycott said on the Vaughany and Tuffers Cricket Club podcast. “England were winning every session, but they didn’t win the match, and that should tell them something for the next Test.

"They lost sight of the fact that the object is to win and then if you want to entertain then yes, by all means. But why can’t you win and entertain? When you get ahead of yourself - and that’s what England did - they stopped thinking."

Boycott said if Stokes' men "might as well be a circus" if it is purely about entertainment at the expense of results. :If you ask people in England ‘Do you want to win the Ashes, or do you want to entertain and lose?’, I know what the answer will be," he added. “If you’re going to just entertain, they might as well be a circus. That’s it, go be a professional circus around the world."

Stokes has not deviated from the insistence England will maintain their ultra-aggressive approach for the second Test. The England skipper has even insisted that his side might crank it up a notch at Lord's.

Ben Stokes happy with big-talking Ollie Robinson

One man who epitomised England's aggression in the first Test was Ollie Robinson - whose foul-mouthed send-off for Usman Khawaja and inflammatory comments about the Aussies drew the ire of cricket greats Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden and Michael Clarke. Despite the backlash against the fast bowler, Stokes is happy for his man to keep up the talk.

"What's Ashes cricket without a little bit of comments from past players?" Stokes said. "It's not the only time where emotions of pro sport have come out in that form.

"Ollie Robinson is the sixth best bowler in the world, he is averaging 21 with the ball. That's all I need to say on that." Stokes also sees no need for Robinson's approach to change, adamant it brings out the best in the right-armer.

Robinson took 3-55 and 2-43 in the first Test at Edgbaston, but a far greener Lord's wicket is likely to offer more assistance to the quicks from Wednesday. "Ollie Robinson doesn't let stuff like that affect him," Stokes said.

"He has been a quality performer every time he has walked on the field for England. His performances have proven that. I won't be having a word with him to rein it in, because you don't want to take something out of a player that gets the best out of them. He loves the competition.

"It is professional sport. It's the Ashes. There was a moment where we needed a desperate breakthrough (of Khawaja), and he was the one to get that."

with agencies

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