England’s World Cup defence has been shambolic, to say the least, and at worst you could say it has been an utter embarrassment.
The 2019 champions have not just been losing matches, they have been absolutely hammered in most games, recalling their plumbing of the depths in previous tournaments before their short-lived white ball revolution.
Where has it all gone wrong – and did the Ben Stokes inclusion upset the apple cart?
After six games, England is rock bottom of the table, two points behind the Netherlands and four points behind Afghanistan and with the worst NRR of any side. England has not put up a fight to defend the World Cup trophy, rather merely waived the other contenders through.
Australia is up next and it is probably not a bad shout to just call the game now; the Aussies are the form team looking to avoid India in a semifinal and to also bang another nail into the old foe’s coffin (a mini, unofficial Ashes, to put it another way).
England has always been a feast or famine team in the short format to a large degree – admittedly, largely famine of late – but their fall from recent grace has been utterly apocalyptic.
There have, however, been telltale signs that all was not well.
There were problems at the outset with squad selection that brought up questions. The selections, and non-selections of Jason Roy and Harry Brook, were messy and given that the latter has now been dropped, the decision to persist with David Malan at opener instead of the tried and tested Roy looks to have been folly. Roy has been excellent for England in the past and was a large part of setting the tone in previous years.
Brook is seen as ‘the next big thing’ and as the future of English batting across the formats. His initial omission raised a few eyebrows and he appeared at the outset to be the odd man out as England attempted to shoehorn Ben Stokes back into the team after his previous retirement from ODI cricket.
Ben Stokes at Wankhede Stadium. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
It would appear sacrilege to criticise Stokes in any shape or form. An outstanding all-rounder of the past decade and a cricketer capable of winning matches and hitting heights in ways that few can dream of.
He is however currently a shadow of his former self, he is essentially playing cricket on one leg and appears to be reduced to cameos relying on his formidable and thoroughly deserved reputation.
As the world’s premier all-rounder without equal, his place in the side was guaranteed but given he cannot currently bowl effectively and his recent batting form, should his constant selection go unquestioned?
There is no doubt also that his inclusion as a specialist batsman only has affected the balance of the side and Tim Paine described his U-turn and inclusion as ‘selfish’.
For all Stokes’ heroics, there does appear to be an element of ‘me first’. He had previously stated that after the Ashes he had a firm plan to fix his troublesome knee once and for all, this it seems was pushed to one side to chase WC glory.
The likes of Joe Root and Brook committed to three-year ECB central contracts to ward off wealthy franchises, but Stokes would only commit to one year leaving his England future up in the air in the medium term also.
Now none of this is not to say that Stokes is responsible for the England debacle, plenty of others are hopelessly out of form with the bat and Jos Buttler looks anything but a leader on the field. England looks entirely rudderless.
Management must also be called hugely into question.
The issue with Stokes’ inclusion and the mess over the squad selection is the message that it sends to the rest of the team, that senior players can dip in and out as they see fit with the effect of stymieing young talent such as the aforementioned Brook and Sam Curran.
They both would have given an excellent all-rounder option in these conditions after his experiences with the Punjab Kings whilst Stokes was paid handsomely to sit on the sidelines for Chennai Super Kings before returning home early.
Jos Buttler is bowled by Kuldeep Yadav. (Photo by Matt Roberts-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)
England is stuck with a team of thirty-somethings who are not getting any better and in several cases are already fading forces. It should be noted of course that the absence of the serially unlucky Jofra Archer is a huge loss for England on the bowling side.
Batting of course can often of course be like dominoes when things are not going well. If the openers are not functioning properly, those classy middle-order stroke makers come in early against a hard ball and walking in at 3/50 is a long reach from coming at 3/250.
The England ODI top order has given a good impression of the recent test top order piling pressure on the following batsmen rushing to get their pads on quickly.
Previous captain and proud Irishman Eoin Morgan has hinted at division or problems within the dressing room, something that coach Matthew Mott was keen to shoot down – as you would expect. Whether he and Buttler could and should survive this campaign in leadership roles looks highly debatable.
For England, the tournament is over and there is merely pride – what is left – at stake, with a tough assignment against the resurgent Aussies. There will again be talk of a white ball reset but the problem is the red ball game is hardly in rude health either.
It may well be time to cast an eye towards the younger generation – everyone seems to have gotten older at once.
Steven McBain
Roar Guru
Yep you right Ace, he’s made himself unavailable for the first 3 tests definitely. Not sure how well those central contracts are working………!?
Ace
Roar Rookie
steven, I thought I read that Wood has made himself unavailable for the tests in India Going to play in the UAR t20 Maybe wrong. But no Wood or Archer and no spinners unless they get their left armer Leech back from injury could add to their woes in India
Ed Flanders
Roar Rookie
They're gonna get creamed in India. It is going to be ugly. I don't even think India will need to alter the pitches much either. If they go bazballing in India, I reckon there's a good bet to be had on whether all 10 wickets are caused by stumpings. The amount of stumpings in the Ashes tests on pitches that didn't turn were alarming.
Steven McBain
Roar Guru
Those Wood stats are pretty damning I have to say.......
Steven McBain
Roar Guru
I think the batting is going to come under an avalanche of pressure in India. England have always struggled on the sub continent with spin and that's no secret. The series they played in India during COVID through up some absurd performances with the bat and very short games. It was like the Indian spinners were throwing down live hand grenades such was England's reluctance to put bat to ball. The problem playing India at the moment is they have genuine quality in the pace department also with Jasprit and Shami. I think it could get really ugly if India decide to put the hammer down........
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
The positives for England heading to India are, the Test side played some very good cricket in the Ashes, so there should still be some residual good feeling/confidence. They also have Stokes and McCallum leading the way, so strong, assertive guys to follow. They should also have Jack Leach back, who did fairly well last tour. The downside is finding a way to win when the ball's doing a bit, (can they still go hard at it as they've done with Bazball), the crowds braying for English blood and the media will be onto any little mistake. It could be a very long couple of months in India for Stokes team.
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
I think you and your armchair have Stokes pegged pretty well. :happy:
Tempo
Roar Rookie
Wood also has a remarkably poor ODI record. He averages nearly 40 (39.6) at an economy of 5.6. So he isn't controlling runs or taking wickets. In fact, the only calendar year he has averaged less than 30 with the ball was 2019 when they won the World Cup - it's probably not a coincidence that he played half of his career ODIs in that year and the year prior (2018). With no Archer, no Plunkett and as you say a bunch of county seamers outside of Reece Topley and Wood - having a guy averaging 40 in ODIs as one of your first choice attack is less than ideal.
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
Sorry, there was more to the BBC article, pretty much said there was going to be a bigger pot for those on central contracts, though no guarantees as you suggested. Pretty sure the Stokes love affair is going to continue, after all, he's got to single handedly win the Ashes in Australia, doesn't he?
Tempo
Roar Rookie
It was a good piece Steve, thanks for writing it. It's been such a bad defence it is certainly worthy of a good post-mortem (even when the body is still warm!). You're certainly right - there seems to be something about English cricket where when they are bad, they are really really bad. In Australia's poor periods we are still beating lower ranked teams and competing with better ones (except for the 2013 tour of India!).
The Bush
Roar Guru
I think a person can be both amazing at what they do professionally and someone who deserves significant and frequent criticism for their behaviour beyond that. Shane Warne comes to Mind. Stokes is an amazing cricketer, one of those few players whose statistics don't do justice to their performances when they're needed (he's making a fool of that statement at the moment though). I also suspect that in many ways, his behaviour can be infectious to other players; he seems tough, he seems committed, he doesn't seem to ever just give up, he just exudes confidence. These are good qualities in the right circumstances. But he also seems to have some serious character flaws - absolutely no insight to his behaviour, I don't think he's one to ever reflect or 'be wrong' and he's clearly completely up himself (doubt he's Robinson Crusoe there though, these are professional athletes). These are qualities that management and coaches should temper, but honestly, the ECB and McCullum seem to inflame them, so hence why we have who we have. That's my armchair assessment anyway.
Steven McBain
Roar Guru
Tempo, you make some very good points about the bowling. There's nothing they can do about Jofra Archer's fitness but it again feeds into the point many people make about the county game and the pitches that are used which reward military medium seam almost exclusively. Liam Plunkett has been a big loss for them and if you take out Mark Wood - who himself has a pretty woeful injury record - then the department looks very thin indeed. I give them zero chance for the next Ashes down under and 5-0 again looks likely. With regard to the 'chasing down anything', again you are spot on. They only know how to play one way and that's to smack everything. The whole 'bazball' thing has gotten so out of control. If they had played more sensibly in the first two tests they could have probably won the last Ashes series but ego has just taken over and any sense of tactics or playing the situation have gone out the window. You can just take a look at the game they lost on the weekend to India and how Rohit played once India were in big trouble. He played sensibly and rebuilt with KL and he said exactly that in his interview afterwards. England just keep swinging................
The Bush
Roar Guru
Making yourself unavailable is the right move, retiring is far more permanent – in my world anyway. Couldn't agree more mate. Regarding the remainder, I'm not sure that amounts to the ECB admitting there will be more money. Rather he's just pointing out what has occurred in the past. There are also multiple factors that go into these types of negotiations. Stokes, considering himself their most indispensable player, has no doubt let his team convince him that he'll get more next year. Perhaps that's true, the pie does generally get bigger, but there's no guarantee. A few test losses and another injury or two may dampen the administrators love for him...
Steven McBain
Roar Guru
I think you might well be right on that score Big G, probably a solid bet to put on a win double, back to back 5-0 defeats away to India and Australia.....? Just pray for good weather.
Steven McBain
Roar Guru
Bush, I really find myself agreeing with your last paragraph entirely and that was probably where the article was heading to be honest. Stokes has earned the right to write his own story in many ways given his previous heroics and it's a very tough call to criticize him but for me, the best thing for 'the team' would have been for him to have gone away and gotten that knee fixed and come back 100% (or as close to it as he can be nowadays) as he said he would towards the end of the Ashes. Thanks for taking the time to read the piece. Cheers, Steve
Steven McBain
Roar Guru
Thanks for reading the piece Tempo. The preparation as you say was clearly lacking but we have been here before with England, arriving for Ashes series down under with little or no relevant game time and being entirely undercooked. I guess where I'm coming from is that all sides go through peaks and troughs but generally if you take Australia as an example say, in the past 10-15 years Australia have not been the all conquering cricket machine I grew up watching in the '90s and '00s but even when things have been going badly they still find a way to compete. I just feel a bit short changed possibly watching a World Cup defence this poor. I really feel you have had to have gotten a LOT of things wrong to have gotten to this stage........ Thanks again for reading the piece. Cheers, Steve
Steven McBain
Roar Guru
Big G, thanks for taking the time to read the piece and a lot if not all of your comments are entirely valid and of course criticizing Stokes is of course stony ground for anyone. I fully appreciate the selectors are the ones who make the decisions but given Stokes' reputation and track record, not selecting a Stokes who has made himself available would have been suicide for the selectors, especially if they had still ended up here. The questions around Roy's fitness are entirely founded but Stokes has to be entirely in the same boat in that respect. It is of course common place to throw the baby out with the bathwater when these fall offs in performance and results happen but there is clearly something very wrong within the camp. Players' form comes and goes but for such a collective drop in performance, mistakes have clearly been made. Your comments on the central comments are well made also and agree that purely from a business sense it's sound enough. I wonder however given he was pulling away from the short formats for England prior to this is he maybe wondering how long his body can handle test cricket? Without test participation I'm not sure how much either side would covet a central contract? Personally, I'd have liked Stokes to have skipped the WC, go and get the knee fixed and come back and fit and firing as only he can. Thanks again for reading the piece. Cheers, Steve
Tempo
Roar Rookie
I'd argue Root simply hasn't played enough ODI cricket over the past 4 years and he hasn't scored many runs when he has, so that's not quite in the out of control category. You'd probably still back him to come good given his class but they shouldn't have let him skip so many series when he hasn't been scoring runs in ODI cricket - especially letting him play in the UAE T20 match fixing league instead of touring South Africa at the start of this year. Malan I'd agree with, although he's still the only batter to score a hundred for England in the tournament! Buttler even more so - they couldn't have budgeted on him having such a stinker of a tournament. There have been factors outside of the poor preparation which have turned a poor campaign into a disastrous one.
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
I don't think you're going to have to wait long for an England Test series belting. England have 5 matches against India starting in January and on current form, you wouldn't back them to win any
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
I think Stokes believes what the press are saying about him; greatest England all rounder ever, saviour of English Test cricket, etc. I'm also not sure he's that smart. Making yourself unavailable is the right move, retiring is far more permanent - in my world anyway. I originally read about the Stokes deal on the BBC cricket website but found it again on a Reuters article; "However, Rob Key, managing director of England men's cricket, downplayed any concerns, saying the 32-year-old all-rounder was just keeping his options open. "Normally the contracts follow the broadcasting cycle and the next broadcasting cycle starts next year. At that point you can renegotiate and change the way you do contracts," Key told Sky Sports. "... Like with all contracts, Ben will feel that if you’ve got one year you're in a stronger negotiating position but by no means does it mean that Ben Stokes doesn’t want to play for England."