Assistant coach Marcus Trescothick says England are “feeling the heat” of their World Cup implosion.
England arrived in India as defending champions but are on course to leave with their tail between their legs after losing four of their first five games.
The all-conquering hosts are next up in Lucknow on Sunday – on paper their toughest assignment of all – and another loss would represent England’s worst-ever sequence at the tournament.
The question marks are piling up with every disappointing result, with team selection, tactics and the England and Wales Cricket Board’s structural commitment to the 50-over game all under scrutiny.
Captain Jos Buttler and head coach Matthew Mott have both been forced to defend their positions and Trescothick made it clear the situation was taking its toll.
“We’ve just not been matching up to the levels we expect and of course it’s disappointing,” he said.
“We’re all feeling it. We’re all feeling the heat. It’s challenging for everyone.
“But what can you do? We prepared the same. Every practice we go through, we’re coming out the other side thinking we’re in a good place and feeling quite right.
“But it’s just not quite worked when we’ve gone into the games.”
The drop off in performance from a side who became the most feared white-ball side in the world on their way to the 2019 title has been so stark, there have been suggestions about England’s motivation to climb the mountain once more.
Asked if England had simply lost interest in the 50-over format, sidetracked by T20 and the ‘Bazball’ revolution in the Test arena, Trescothick resisted.
“Forgive me, I don’t want to be blunt here, but we haven’t lost faith in what it is,” he responded.
“I can’t really say too much more. We love playing any form of cricket, any form of the game that we play.
“We were desperate to come here and try and win back-to-back 50-over competitions. So, we’re still very much focused on all formats of the game.”
Lining up against India at their home can be a daunting experience at the best of times and doing so while devoid of confidence and form only makes matters worse.
Rohit Sharma’s side bring a 100 per cent record into the match and are likely to be aided by a highly partisan crowd and, if local reports on the ground are to be believed, a helpful turning pitch.
But Trescothick hopes to see England thrive under adversity.
“I think playing against India in a World Cup in their own country is a special part of the game,” he said.
“You know there’ll be a big crowd and there’ll be a wonderful occasion. The atmosphere is going to be electric.”
England will surely consider bringing Harry Brook back into their under-performing batting line-up after surprisingly dropping him last time out, while Gus Atkinson, Sam Curran and the recently-arrived Brydon Carse all stand by to help refresh the bowling stocks.
There will be some temptation to play all three in an overt act of adding a more youthful sheen to an ageing outfit, but England may exert more restraint given the size of the task ahead against the likes of Rohit and Virat Kohli.
West Indies win fifth T20I by eight wickets to secure 4-1 series victory
The West Indies Women defeated hosts Pakistan by eight wickets in the fifth and final T20 International at the Karachi National Stadium on Friday to complete a 4-1 series victory.
Pakistan, after being put in to bat by the West Indies, had an excellent start to their innings with Ayesha Zafar and Sidra Ameen putting on 38 for the first wicket before Zafar fell in the fifth over for 22.
Ameen and Muneeba Ali then put on a further 46 before the latter fell for 25 in the 13th over.
That same over saw Pakistan reduced to 86-3 when Nida Dar fell for two.
What proceeded that can only be described as a collapse as the hosts then lost their next five wickets for just 35 runs in five overs.
They eventually ended their 20 overs 134-8. Ameen was the final person out for a top score of 48 as Afy Fletcher was excellent with the ball for the Windies with 3-17 from her four overs.
Qiana Joseph also bowled well with 2-26 from four overs.
The successful chase was then anchored by superstar batter Hayley Matthews.
The skipper faced 59 balls and hit 11 fours on her way to a top score of 78 as the West Indies needed just 18.2 overs to reach 136-2.
Shemaine Campbelle provided good support with 33.
Matthews was named player of the series thanks to her 205 runs and seven wickets.
Full scores: Pakistan 134-8 off 20 overs (Sidra Ameen 48, Muneeba Ali 25, Ayesha Zafar 22, Afy Fletcher 3-17, Qiana Joseph 2-26)
West Indies 136-2 off 18.2 overs (Hayley Matthews 78, Shemaine Campbelle 33)
IPL: Iyer and Starc boost Kolkata's top-two hopes after Mumbai win
Venkatesh Iyer starred with 70 for Kolkata Knight Riders before Mitchell Starc's four-wicket haul eased his side to a 24-run victory over Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.
The Knight Riders only managed to post 169 at Wankhede Stadium as Iyer and Manish Pandey (42) were the only Kolkata batters to pass 15 runs on Friday.
Nuwan Thushara registered figures of 3-42 and Jasprit Bumrah picked up three wickets for just 18 runs as Kolkata limped to a target that appeared somewhat reachable for Mumbai.
Yet Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma and Naman Dhir all failed to get going in response for the Indians before Suryakumar Yadav's 35-ball 56 promised a tense ending.
However, Andre Russell forced Suryakumar to launch a full toss into the sky for a simple Phil Salt catch – with the West Indian one of three Kolkata bowlers to collect two wickets, along with Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy (both 2-22).
Suryakumer's dismissal teed up Starc's three-wicket blitz to end the innings with 4-33, moving the Knight Riders up to second in the table as Tim David's quickfire 24 proved redundant for Mumbai.
Data Debrief: Iyer the hero as Mumbai play-off hopes stunted
Having been reduced to 57-5 in the first innings, Iyer stood up with his season-best 70 off just 52 balls – including six fours and three maximums – guiding Kolkata to a commendable target.
This defeat left Mumbai ninth in the table, some six points adrift of the play-offs with just three games remaining – they may live to rue not capitalising on a promising first-innings position.
CWI's Lead Selector Haynes confident in T20 World Cup squad- “We’ve got a team that can win this World Cup”
CWI Lead Selector, Dr. The Hon. Desmond Haynes, believes the squad that has been selected to represent the West Indies at the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup set for June 1-29 in the Caribbean and the USA can replicate the performances of the region’s title-winning squads in 2012 and 2016.
“This is a very good time in West Indies cricket. I believe that we’ve got a team that can win this World Cup and I feel damn good about this,” Haynes said in a Friday press conference announcing the squad.
“We’ve had preparations for the last year. The majority of the players, we had them involved and they were very successful. This is a very exciting time for us and I would hope that everyone in the Caribbean and all the West Indies fans support us because this is our best chance,” he added.
Also on hand at Friday’s press conference was West Indies Men’s ODI and T20I head coach Daren Sammy who also expressed confidence in the squad ahead of the tournament.
“We’ve known how to select winning teams. We’ve done it before and I think, as a selection group, we’re really excited about it,” Sammy said.
“It’s an exciting time and this preparation did not start now. It started from the last World Cup in Australia. What we’ve been able to do throughout the last year as a T20 group, the players we’ve exposed, has brought us to this moment and I think we’re about to knock it out of this world,” he added.
Two of the standout names in the 15-man squad were pacer Shamar Joseph and Shimron Hetmyer.
Joseph made his Test debut during the recent tour to Australia and became a worldwide phenomenon when he took a seven-wicket haul in the final innings despite an injured foot to give West Indies a dramatic eight-run win at the Gabba in the second Test. It was West Indies' first Test win in Australia since 1997.
This will be his first opportunity to represent the West Indies in the T20I format. He’s currently getting his first crack at franchise T20 cricket as he is a member of the Lucknow Super Giants in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL).
“You really can’t question Shamar Joseph’s skills. We saw him in Australia. We were looking at someone up front to bowl in the first powerplay and we think he ticks that box for us,” Haynes said.
Hetmyer is making his return to the squad after being left out for the tour of Australia. Haynes said it was a tough time deciding whether to pick Hetmyer or Kyle Mayers.
“It was a very close decision between Kyle and Hettie but we look at it from the point of view that we wanted the extra batsman to be one batting down the order,” he said.
Since the start of Daren Sammy’s tenure as head coach, he has always placed an emphasis on the importance of roles in a successful T20 outfit.
He believes that this 15-man group has covered all the necessary bases.
“We are ready. When you look at role definition from the group we’ve selected, I think we’ve come up with the best combination to help us win this World Cup.
The hosts will open their campaign against Papua New Guinea at Providence in Guyana on June 2.
Full squad: Rovman Powell (C), Alzarri Joseph (VC), Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Gudakesh Motie, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd
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