‘Brisbane was a horror show’: Former England cricketer lambasts his side as Australia continue Ashes dominance

Australia continued their brilliant form in the ongoing Ashes 2025-26, taking on England in the second Test of the series at the Gabba from December 4. Australia defeated the visitors in four days, registering an eight-wicket victory. The Aussies extended their lead to 2-0 with a win in Brisbane. 

With England’s continued subpar run in Test cricket, many experts came forward and slammed the side for their performance in the ongoing Ashes series. Former England cricketer Geoffrey Boycott shared the same thinking. 

He opined that England is heavily underprepared for the ongoing Ashes and branded their performance in Brisbane as a horror show. 

“Brisbane was a horror show: irresponsible batting, bowling too short, too wide or too full, and catches dropped. This Australian team was there to be beaten, but somehow, after just six days of Ashes cricket, England need a miracle. England talk the talk but can’t walk the walk. With this sort of batting and bowling, they couldn’t win an egg cup, let alone the Ashes urn,” Boycott wrote in his column for the Telegraph. 

“Ben Stokes said England had a blueprint. They had been planning this tour for four years and know what they are doing. What a load of bulls—. We can’t believe anything Ben or his team say. None of them want to listen to anyone outside of their own camp,” He added.

Boycott further slammed Ben Stokes and his side’s tactics

Additionally, Boycott went on to slam Ben Stokes, criticising the side’s tactics, opining that it is due to the players not having the fear of getting dropped, which is the reason for their batting failures. 

“They are up their own backsides convinced that Test cricket has changed so much that only they know anything about the modern game… One of the problems with this squad is it appears nobody tells them off or sits them down and discusses what they could or should have done differently. All we ever hear from the captain is attack, and from the coach, keep the faith,” Boycott wrote. 

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