‘But England have had three bad ones in a row now, the disastrous 50-over World Cup in India, a poor T20 World Cup in the Caribbean – where they made the semis but they didn’t beat anybody of note though it – and now here, and their cricket is way below the standards which they set themselves.
The 2019 and 2022 World Cup wins felt a lifetime ago as England slumped to an agonising defeat to minnows Afghanistan and crashed out of the Champions Trophy at the group stage.
There are even concerns over the form of Jos Buttler, England’s greatest in white-ball cricket, who has just two ODI hundreds to his name in 42 innings since the 2019 World Cup was won by the barest of margins.
Over-reliant on the ever-brilliant Adil Rashid, England lost control and lacked potency during the middle overs and were missing a bowler like Liam Plunkett, one of the key figures during their 2019 World Cup win.
‘England have hit both India and [teams] in the Champions Trophy with a huge amount of pace and batters have been deflecting the ball to all parts.’.
