Sir Ian Botham rips into England team management, calls rotation policy 'absolute garbage'

One of the finest all-rounders of the game, Sir Ian Botham has lambasted the England team management for not picking ‘right players and adopting the rotation policy which he rated as an ‘absolute garbage.’ He said that things like plyers being asked to rest after a fine performance would not have taken place in his era.

"I am not sure we are picking the right players. Rotation, I think, is the biggest load of b******s of all time. Absolute garbage. I tell you what, I would like to have seen someone say to me when I was playing 'well done, but you’re having a rest next game'. Err, no I’m not. Bowl, get fit and stay fit by bowling," Botham wrote in his column for The Daily Mail.

Botham also came hard on England’s batsmen for not going for the chase in the first Test against New Zealand and rated their overall performances as one of the worst he has ever witnessed from his countrymen.

He said that the excuse of not having the services of Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler behind them not going for the chase did not make any sense as their absence created chances for other players to step up.

"I think our batting is a big worry. Last month, England had a great opportunity at Lord’s when they were given the opportunity of a last-day run chase against New Zealand. People had been waiting for months and months to see live sport and to go out and bat like that in the final innings with no intent was appalling. I thought ‘you guys need to wake up a bit, you rely on the public’.

"Their reason for why they didn’t do it was because Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes weren’t playing. Excuse me. That gives a chance for someone else to come through. I thought it was very weak. They got what they deserved in the end, to be quite frank. Performances like the one at Lord’s don’t do anything to promote Test cricket. Quite the contrary. It was one of the most p***poor performances I have ever seen from an England side. 

He said that the public who turned up at Lord’s to see live sports after such a long break due to Covid-19 would have preferred England going for it and losing it by 20 odd runs instead of watching them bat without any intent. He said that champion sides such as the West Indies of the 1970s, and 80s or New Zealand of now would never have let such opportunities go waste.

"You know what, I think the public would have much preferred England to have gone for it and got within 20 runs and if they win it or lose it from that point, whatever. Imagine the West Indies side of the 70s or 80s turning down a challenge like that or New Zealand now. I was pretty ashamed to be honest. I just don’t understand the logic,” an infuriated Botham added in his column.

England slipped to their first series defeat against New Zealand at home since 1999 and Joe Root suffered his first series loss at home to Kane Williamson-led New Zealand side who found them short of answers in all departments of the game.