England have shot itself in the head this winter: Boycott

The 68-year-old added: 8220;There was the fiasco over Kevin Pietersen,the fiasco over Allen Stanford and his millions,they8217;ve tried three or four guys as captain. Now they8217;ve got Andrew Strauss who is quite a nice lad 8211; he will do a decent job 8211; but I8217;m not convinced he is a natural captain.

8220;It8217;s a gift,to look after 10 other people and also to still look after your own game and play well,and at the same time be thinking two steps ahead of the game. When you8217;re captain you can8217;t just wait for things to happen. The great captains are thinking ahead.8221;

Reflecting on the vexed number three slot,Boycott added: 8220;If you look at the number three position,we have tried Ian Bell and Owais Shah,they8217;re still talking about bringing Michael Vaughan back,and now are trying Ravi Bopara. That is just one position. I don8217;t feel we8217;re getting the best out what we8217;ve got. Never mind shooting themselves in the foot,England have shot themselves in the head this winter.8221;

England begin their build-up to the Ashes with the first of two Tests against the West Indies from Wednesday at Lord8217;s. The first Test against Australia is at Cardiff on July 8.