Following a fifth defeat in six games, England’s nightmare Cricket World Cup campaign has finally reached its inevitable destiny. After their final group game against Pakistan, the champions of four years ago will be on the first plane back to London Heathrow, with their tails firmly between their legs. 

If it was up to me, however, they would be swimming home. The team has looked a shell of the all-conquering 2019 juggernaut, bereft of ideas, lacking intent and playing the wrong format of the game. In fact, their only win was mainly down to the brilliance of Dawid Malan, so much so that Bangladesh must be kicking themselves after losing against this disorganised mess. 

England were completely undercooked heading to India. They do not play enough ODI Cricket with a full-strength line-up, and it shows. Throughout England’s white ball revolution between 2015 and 2019, they played 83 ODIs. Between 2019 and 2023, England have played just 45, with only a handful of those being played with their full-strength side. 

Put simply, England are playing the wrong form of cricket. Their entire framework revolves around the idea that an ODI is an extended T20. This approach has been cynically comical. 

Against South Africa, England chose to bowl first on a scorching day in Mumbai because the Wankhede is a ‘good ground for chasing’. This theory came from the IPL, and the memories of England’s chase of 229 in the 2016 World Cup, seven years ago. Ignorance came to the fore, as they toiled in the field, surrendering 399 runs to the Proteas. Exhausted by the Mumbai heat, England collapsed to a 229 run defeat. 

Perhaps more humiliatingly, England chose to bowl first against Afghanistan ‘for no real reason.’ They allowed Afghanistan into the game, who put England under scoreboard pressure, and England crumbled chasing a competitive score of 284. In 2019, England batted first against Afghanistan, scoring 397 and putting the game to bed before it had even got going. 

Furthermore, England do not have a clue who makes up the balance of their best XI, and they are trying to work out how to play 50 over cricket mid-tournament. ODIs are completely different to T20 matches, yet in their naivety, England believe that when the game is played with a white ball, they can muscle their way to victory without planning or structure. 

The batters look scratchy, out of form and lacking time in the middle playing ODI cricket. After Dawid Malan, no player understands how to pace an innings. Brute force is not working, and England cannot rotate the strike throughout the middle overs, instead absorbing the pressure of dot balls before giving their wickets away trying to play catch up. The tournament highflyers, South Africa and India, average 423 runs per wicket when playing shots to rotate the strike (i.e., shots of control, aiming to nudge the ball to boundary sweepers for easy runs). England average just 27. 

The bowling has been equally abject. Up front, Chris Woakes has been uncharacteristically expensive, and the loss of Jofra Archer harms England’s death bowling abilities. However, through the middle overs, Adil Rashid has been left on his own. England never replaced Liam Plunkett, who was thrown aside after his significant contribution to the 2019 campaign. Sam Curran is not a suitable replacement, the left-armer unable to create pressure or take wickets through the middle overs. Combined with Mark Wood’s inaccuracy, and England have let matches slip away. 

These flaws should not come as a surprise. They do not play any ODI cricket, anyway, spending more time on the golf course than out in the middle. 

The Three Lions were the bookies second favourites to win the tournament, yet I was far less confident. The warning signs had been evident for some time, yet England chose to ignore them. Two or three brilliant individual performances can win a T20 game. In 50 over cricket, every member of the side needs to know their role and execute. 

Eoin Morgan’s relentless push for perfection meant each game saw England fine-tune tactics until they were unstoppable, creating a well-oiled machine which arrived at the Oval in 2019 to batter South Africa and begin a campaign which ended in glory. In 2023, England used all 15 players in their squad by the third game of the tournament, chopping and changing as they go. This is a clear sign that the team lacks leadership and direction, and another white ball revolution is necessary once the dust has settled on this disaster. 

‘We aren’t defending anything’ said Jos Buttler in his pre-tournament press conference. Well, he was honest. At least Happy Hour was still on at the hotel after the early finish against India before England’s morning tee time at Lucknow Golf Club tomorrow.