LONDON, April 13: Former England great Geoff Boycott believes England's World Cup prospects are being damaged by their over reliance on performing well in Tests.

Boycott raised the fear on Thursday as England are struggling 4-1 down in the one-day series in India having also lost the one-dayers in Pakistan.

“We put one-dayers second after Tests and don't see it as a major importance,” he said in his column for the BBC.

“The Test team is looking good but in one-dayers England are ordinary and not saying they want to win the World Cup.” He reckons England's whole approach is based on retaining the Ashes in

Australia later this year and says that policy is in danger of harming their chances at the World Cup in the Caribbean next March.

“I don't think they can say that when the Ashes series is finished in January that they'll switch on to the World Cup - it doesn't work like that.

“Matthew Hoggard was quoted as saying that it's more important to win the Ashes this winter than the World Cup.

“Australia don't look at it like that. They make winning a good habit in both forms of the game and that's why they've won the last two World Cups and been world champions at Test cricket for the last decade or more.”—AFP