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Boycott lashes woeful England

Cape Town - Former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott has criticised the English cricket team, saying they refuse to accept criticism or take any advice from outside.

CLICK HERE to watch BBC Sport's full interview with Geoffrey Boycott

England suffered a shock exit from the Cricket World Cup on Monday when they went down to Bangladesh by 15 runs in Adelaide.

Crushed by Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, England failed to chase a target of 276 to beat Bangladesh and will head home after their worst World Cup performance.

Boycott, speaking to BBC Sport after England’s loss on Monday, lashed out at the team’s efforts in Australia and New Zealand.

“They don’t (accept criticism). And yet the Australian team are different. Shane Warne is always in there, yet he works in the media all the time - in television, writing. They're always talking to him.”

Boycott said several ex-players could have given England advice.

“There’s lots of people, Ian Botham was a great player. There’s plenty of others around. Nasser Hussain, Michael Atherton... Michael Vaughn was a wonderful captain. There’s loads of ex-players around.

“But they think you should be praising them all the time. How the hell do you praise performances like that, or against Sri Lanka, or how we got battered against New Zealand. And smashed against Australia!?

“We want to praise them. But they have to give the public and us people in the media something to shout about.”

The 74-year-old Boycott played 108 Tests for England, scoring 8 114 runs at an average of 47.72.

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