Champions Trophy news: England dumped out in Pakistan; Jos Buttler role in doubt
England’s woes in white-ball cricket continue to mount as an eight-run defeat to Afghanistan in Lahore ended their Champions Trophy campaign with a game to spare.
After an opening-round defeat to Australia, England knew they had to win their two remaining games in order to qualify for the semi-finals but fell narrowly short in a nail-biting run chase, with Joe Root’s heroic century ultimately in vain.
Having previously beaten England at the 2023 World Cup, Afghanistan claimed another scalp at a major ICC event as their impressive ascent in international cricket took another step with a maiden win at the Champions Trophy.
As for England, their golden era in white-ball cricket appears a distant memory and serious questions will be raised over the future direction of the side under Brendon McCullum, with Jos Buttler’s role as captain in a particularly precarious state following a third successive tournament failure.
Sports News Blitz cricket writer Dom Harris takes a look at the latest crisis for England.
Champions Trophy a step too soon for struggling England
Perhaps the most eye-opening aspect of the defeat to Afghanistan and early exit from the Champions Trophy is that it comes as no surprise. In fact, it was almost expected.
England’s recent stats are pretty damning – an ODI win percentage of just 25% since the 2023 World Cup debacle, comprising four consecutive bilateral series defeats.
McCullum has also failed to replicate his impact at Test level, winning just one of his first 10 limited-overs games in charge this year and being brushed aside by a far superior India outfit just prior to the Champions Trophy.
There appears to be a fundamental problem in England’s ability to juggle all three formats simultaneously, and presently the attention of those that matter appears heavily fixated on Ben Stokes’ side winning the Ashes Down Under later this year.
Between 2015 and 2019, Eoin Morgan spearheaded a white-ball revolution with the overall aim of winning the World Cup, during which time the Test side under Joe Root played second fiddle.
Ever since England realised Morgan’s goal in 2019, the one-day format has been placed on the back-burner, with the introduction of The Hundred franchise competition at domestic level and the attacking ‘Bazball’ philosophy at Test level.
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Recurring issues haunt McCullum’s side
In modern times, as one-day cricket struggles for relevance in a T20-fixated world, the gripping topsy-turvy nature of the England versus Afghanistan clash provided a superb advert for the 50-over game and showed just why the format needs persevering with.
There were clear parallels across England’s two performances in Pakistan in that they both involved letting a strong position slip away and a struggle to wrestle back momentum.
Against Australia, England were well placed at 200-2 after 30 overs against a depleted bowling attack on a perfect batting surface, but they could only convert that into a total of 351 which proved to not be enough.
Similarly against Afghanistan, England battled their way into the driving seat with 15 overs to go and later needed just 17 off 14 balls with three wickets in hand, but a lack of calm heads saw them only add a further eight runs.
Most concerning, however, has been the struggle with ball in hand, with the bowlers regularly failing to take wickets in the middle overs before completely capitulating at the back-end.
Australia were four down with over 200 runs required, whilst Afghanistan were 39-3 at the end of the powerplay – the first time England have taken three wickets within the powerplay in 14 ODIs – but England could not make it count, again.
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Familiarity in failure and an overreliance on the bat
England’s two batting innings this tournament have been underpinned by a single standout contribution in each – Ben Duckett’s sensational 165 against Australia set the platform for a mammoth total and Joe Root’s classy first ODI century since 2019 almost got his side over the line against Afghanistan.
The target of 326 in the latter was certainly feasible as proven by Australia on the same ground, although it felt like the writing was on the wall as soon as England lost control in the field, given the number of batters known to be out of form.
Phil Salt has only faced more than 30 balls twice in his past 10 ODI innings, failing to convert brisk starts into more meaningful contributions – a critical difference between being an opener in ODIs and T20s.
The decision to trial Jamie Smith at three has also backfired thus far with successive soft dismissals – his uncharacteristically rash decision to charge the first ball of spin bowled by Afghanistan rather summed up an England attitude that at times makes you want to tear your hair out.
As a result, Root has walked out into the middle in the 6th and 7th overs so far in this tournament, despite being pushed down to number four in order to offer more stability against spin during the middle stages.
Harry Brook’s lean patch continued as he gave Mohammad Nabi catching practice off his own bowling, whilst Liam Livingstone’s lack of consistent contributions with the bat continue to be overlooked due to an increasing reliance on his bowling.
Buttler looked like a man under pressure at the crease as he struggled early on but did manage a useful 38 before he was tempted to go after a short ball – one of Azmatullah Omarzai’s five scalps.
Jamie Overton almost dragged England home after a cramp-stricken Root departed with 39 still required, but his innocuous chip to long-on with the game on a knife edge proved to be the defining turning point.
In the end, ODI and T20 remain two very distinct formats, even if England are stubborn in thinking otherwise.
Perhaps it is just the lack of 50-over exposure, but England’s T20-geared mindset is making it a major challenge for them to bat their allotted overs. Only twice in their last eight occasions batting first have they done so, and that is a major reason why they are currently far behind the likes of India and New Zealand in this department.
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Bowling attack continues to lack a cutting edge
England’s preference for express pace certainly fits their mantra for entertaining cricket, although the lack of variation and depth has been telling – whether that’s a selection issue or a lack of international-standard alternatives is up for debate.
A combination of Livingstone and Root as the fifth bowling option also highlights the lack of frontline spinners behind Adil Rashid and the wider dearth of genuine all-rounders as England struggle to fill the void left by Stokes and Moeen Ali.
The death bowling was particularly alarming as England simply fell apart in the latter stages of both games – no England seamer recorded figures with an economy of less than a run-a-ball across the two matches.
After Alex Carey was dismissed, Australia went on to score 74 in 5.5 overs to chase their target with 15 balls remaining. Everything dropped short was dispatched with aplomb into the stands by Josh Inglis.
Likewise, Afghanistan added 113 runs in their final 10 overs, with too much length and too many slot deliveries to a set batter in Ibrahim Zadran. Jofra Archer conceded a massive 146 in 20, with there significantly contrasting fortunes between his new-ball and closing spells.
To be fair, England have come up against players plundering the innings of their lives in Inglis and Zadran, the latter’s record-breaking 177 the highest score by an Afghanistan player in ODI cricket as well as the highest score in Champions Trophy history – eclipsing Duckett’s effort just four days prior.
The Lahore pitch was also incredibly favourable for the batters, whilst England have had to juggle injury issues to Brydon Carse and Mark Wood, but it really has not been good enough at the end of the day.
Qualification is not a possibility, so England will head to Karachi to face South Africa on Saturday hoping to leave the tournament with an element of pride and finally put an end to a six-match losing run.
MORE FROM DOM HARRIS: Champions Trophy news: Can England recapture white-ball form and bid for unexpected glory?
