Flintoff should open the innings: Boycott

With England struggling to make an impact in the ongoing ODI series, Geoffrey Boycott feels the visitors need to change the opening pair in order to improve their fortunes.

Boycott feels England has suffered due to slow starts and hard hitting all-rounder Andrew Flintoff should be asked to open the innings.

Coming down hard on Ian Bell and Ravi Bopara, who opened the innings during the rain-truncated tie yesterday, Boycott said England needed a flying start but the openers failed to deliver.

However, Flintoff was impressive lower down the order with a quick-fire innings of 41 off 30 balls and Boycott feels the former England captain should open the innings.

''Ian Bell and Ravi Bopara are both good batsmen, pretty to watch, full of classy touches and nice timing. But are they the kind of players who can slog the ball out of the ground? Absolutely not.

They have trained themselves to play correct cricket shots, not to heave across the line,'' Boycott wrote in 'The Daily Telegraph'.

''We saw when Andrew Flintoff got going just what could be achieved with a more muscular approach, but his cameo came too late.

If you get off to a bad start in a 22-over match, you will always be playing catch-up cricket,'' he added.

-- (UNI) -- 24SPD36.xml

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