Boycott ‘loses three houses’ following England’s defeat

Monday, 30 January 2012 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Abu Dhabi: Former England captain Geoffrey Boycott had joked in his match commentary on the third day of the Abu Dhabi Test that he would sell his three houses if his side lost the match.

Little did he know that Day 4 would turn the fortunes in Pakistan’s favour.

Pakistan got an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match Test series, as Andrew Strauss’s side was bundled out for 72 to lose the Abu Dhabi Test by 72 runs.

“I have lost all my houses, you stupid England team. I’m kidding but this was a terrible performance,” The BBC quoted Boycott as saying after England lost the Test series.

“I’ve seen some poor performances in 25 years of playing and 23 years of commentating and that’s as bad as I’ve seen. What a load of rubbish. You have to see it to believe it how poor it was,” he added.

England had a 145 runs target to win the Test and level the series but Pakistani spinners wrecked havoc on England’s batting line-up, with only Andrew Strauss and Matt Prior scoring double figures.

England has defeated only Bangladesh in Asia, being held or defeated in seven other Test series, while winning just one match since their 2001 series win in Sri Lanka.

England also knocked out of the 2011 World Cup in India after suffering losing against Ireland and Bangladesh and a 10-wicket thrashing by Sri Lanka in the quarter-finals.