England won't regain Ashes - Boycott - Sport in brief

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The former skipper, 68, has pointed to the ever-changing selection policy as well as the distractions of the row between Kevin Pietersen and former coach Peter Moores and the botched Stanford Super Series as proof that England are not ready to regain the urn.

"England are not in great shape," Boycott told BBC One's Inside Sport. "Can they win the Ashes? No. I think they will draw if anything, and the Australians will retain them."

He added: "There was the fiasco over Kevin Pietersen, the fiasco over Allen Stanford and his millions, they've tried three or four guys as captain.

"Now they've got Andrew Strauss who is quite a nice lad - he will do a decent job - but I'm not convinced he is a natural captain.

"It'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 you're captain you can't just wait for things to happen. The great captains are thinking ahead."

Reflecting on the vexed number three slot, Boycott said: "If you look at the number three position, we have tried Ian Bell and Owais Shah, they're still talking about bringing Michael Vaughan back, and now are trying Ravi Bopara. That is just one position.

"I don't feel we're getting the best out what we've got. Never mind shooting themselves in the foot, England have shot themselves in the head this winter."

England's two-Test series against the West Indies starts at Lord's on Wednesday, with the first Ashes Test at Cardiff on July 8.