
Former England captain and commentator Nasser Hussain has made a bold prediction on the England cricket team’s potential future after another horrible outing in the ODI World Cup. Jos Buttler’s side lost by eight wickets against Sri Lanka in the ODI World Cup on Thursday (Oct 26) which is potentially the final nail in the coffin to make the semifinal. After the demoralising defeat in Bengaluru, Hussain had harsh words for the team as they now look destined to exit the tournament in the league stage.
“If you walk in that England dressing room now and asked them to put their hand on heart and say 'are you in good nick?' I reckon maybe only one or two could say that.
“They have collapsed as a unit. Their form has deserted them and it just feels like we're coming to the end of an era. It has been a bridge too far for some of them,” Hussain wrote in his personal column for Sky Sports.
England were bowled out for 156 in just 33.2 overs with Ben Stokes being the top scorer with 43 runs. With no herculean run chase on offer, Sri Lanka chased the target in 25.4 overs as Pathum Nissanka (unbeaten 77) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (65) stitched an unbeaten 137-run stand to win the match. David Willey scalped two wickets during his spell but other senior bowlers did not give competition to hand Sri Lanka an easy win. This also helped them boost their NRR with close competition for the semifinals expected.
“It's so easy to be wise after the event. Some of those cricketers on that park today would go in your best-ever England white-ball XI and I wouldn't have changed things before the tournament,” added Hussain in his column.
With chances of making the semis very slim, England will look to get the best possible result from their remaining four matches. They will play hosts India on Sunday in Lucknow while Australia and Pakistan also await them in their remaining matches. Their clash against the Netherlands on Wednesday (Nov 8) could be a dead rubber counting they lose either of India or Australia clash.