Geoffrey Boycott slams players for prioritising IPL over nation

The IPL vs country debate has once again resurfaced after Chris Silverwood confirmed that several England players will miss action for their national team because of the T20 league. The England head coach recently stated that the players will stay back in India for the IPL playoffs, if their teams make it to the final stages, and will miss the first Test against New Zealand at home starting on June 2. IPL 2021 is scheduled to end on May 2.

A total of 13 England players – Eoin Morgan, Jofra Archer, Sam Curran, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Tom Curran, Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Liam Livingtsone, Sam Billings and Chris Jordan – will be a part of IPL 2021. Out of the aforementioned 13 players, seven players are regulars in England’s Test team. Thus, if most of those players’ IPL teams make it to the playoffs, England will not be at their strongest against the Kiwis.

And as the debate continues to gain momentum, former England Geoffrey Boycott has weighed in with his opinion too. The batting legend has come down hard on the English players for prioritizing IPL over country. Writing in his column for The Daily Telegraph, Boycott said that the English cricket board must stop treating its players in a “namby-pamby way”. He also urged the ECB to dock money if the players put IPL above national duty.

“England will also stick to their rotation policy aimed at helping their multi-format players cope better with life in bio-secure bubbles, Silverwood said after the team’s 3-1 test series loss in India. messed up with a rotation policy in India and must stop treating players in a namby-pamby way,” Geoffrey Boycott wrote.

“Players seem to forget the IPL would not come calling for them if they had not performed for England first. So they owe a debt of gratitude and loyalty to put England first. I would never stop them from earning that but not by missing games for England to do it,” he added.

Don’t select them unless they can agree to be available for a whole series: Geoffrey Boycott

Known for his straightforward nature, Geoffrey Boycott further opined that nobody should begrudge a player leaving England’s bio-secure bubble over mental health issues. Boycott opined that the players would never skip IPL because of mental health. He stated that the England board had been “too soft” and recommended penalties for any player who does not prioritise national duty. He also slammed the administrators for their failure to deal with the matter.

“But I bet you will not see any of our players leaving the IPL because they miss their wife, girlfriend or kids. If players want to go home for a break from England duty, dock their money. Better still don’t select them unless they can agree to be available for a whole series. It is a barmy way to run English cricket, they should all be ashamed and embarrassed,” Boycott said.