Reaction to England loss, team selections, Jos Buttler, press conference, Afghanistan win

It was the first major upset of this year’s World Cup and England’s first ball set the tone for a historic defeat that Jos Buttler described as a “big setback”.

A wayward delivery from Chris Woakes, which Buttler allowed with his catch for five wides, later proved to be a sign of things to come in a shock 69-run defeat to Afghanistan.

And for Woakes, it was just the start of another worrying outing which ended with figures of 0-41 from four overs as his tournament struggles continued.

Woakes has now taken just two wickets so far – both in the win over Bangladesh – and has conceded 7.5 runs per over.

Watch every match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup live ad-free on Kayo Sports. Join Kayo now and start streaming instantly >

An opening defeat to Afghanistan in any format left England with just one win from their opening three matches of the tournament and with little margin for error in their remaining six group matches.

Afghanistan punished a poor bowling performance to reach 284 before dismissing England for 215. Harry Brook was the only batsman to offer much resistance as he top-scored with 66.

Former England captain Michael Atherton, however, blamed the team’s inconsistent bowling attack, with Woakes giving away 31 runs in his first three overs.

“England didn’t play well enough and teams were throwing themselves at them,” Atherton said on Sky Sports.

“There are reasons. A lot of players are undercooked in terms of time in cricket, time in ODIs.

“But they haven’t started yet and have made things very difficult for themselves now. I think England started badly today. They were careless. Five wides to start, with Curran awarding a free in the first over. A miss from Bairstow that lasted four.

“They just looked a little late and that set the tone. From then on, they always chased the match.

WORLD CUP SCALE: Australians’ grim reality sets in as reigning champions suffer shock loss

Former England bowler Steven Finn described it as “total carnage” in commentary for BBC Test Match Special as Afghanistan reached the half-century mark after just seven overs.

It wasn’t just Woakes, with Sam Curran also conceding 46 runs from four overs.

The duo’s inconsistent performance forced England to rely on 12 overs of production from Joe Root and Liam Livingstone.

“It was an implosion that brewed throughout England’s first campaign,” wrote Katya Witney of Wisden.

“Woakes’ first three overs in the tournament so far were 0-27 against New Zealand, 1-37 against Afghanistan and 0-31 against Afghanistan,” Witney added.

“Far from England’s Mr Reliable with the new ball of ODI cricket, as he has been for so many years, Woakes has so far been a liability.

“Add to that the willingness to view Curran as a solution to their lack of depth with both bat and ball, and England’s attack looks a long way from being one that could reach the semi-finals of ‘a World Cup, let alone win it.’

The Daily Mail’s Lawrence Booth, meanwhile, wrote that the “warning signs” were already there before Sunday’s shock defeat and that Woakes and Curran are now “unselectable”.

“They dismissed New Zealand’s nine-wicket hammering as an aberration, before Bangladesh punished them for a lame final 10 overs with the bat at Dharamshala,” Booth wrote.

“But the conservatism that once ravaged English cricket seems to have returned. England had a chance here to draw blood from Gus Atkinson or David Willey, or both. Instead, Woakes – one of the Ashes comeback heroes – made himself unselectable, alongside Sam Curran.

“Woakes has now taken two for 135 in this World Cup, and Curran two for 122. Their combined figures here were 8-0-87-0. All the while, Atkinson fired rockets into the nets under the approving eye of bowling coach David Saker.

England captain Buttler said the defending champions must show determination and believe they can turn around their faltering World Cup campaign.

“It’s obviously a big setback. Before the tournament starts, you have a different idea of ​​how the first three matches would go,” Buttler said.

“We have to show a lot of character, a lot of resilience within the team and above all a lot of conviction.

“There were a lot of great players and we didn’t play well enough today, but we have to keep that belief.”

He added: “This is not how we wanted to start the competition, but this is the situation we find ourselves in and we are going to have to play some of our best cricket going forward.”

England face in-form South Africa next Saturday in Mumbai. They also still have to face tournament favorites and hosts India, Pakistan and five-time champions Australia.

BBC Test Match Special commentator Henry Moeran said Sunday’s stunning defeat was “the kind of result that can really derail a team in a tournament”.

Former England bowler Finn said there would be “lots of meetings, lots of conversations and lots of headaches over the next 48 hours”.

“It’s going to be so emotional in this England dressing room right now, so calm. It feels like that defeat against Bangladesh in 2015, even though that one got them sent off, they will be just as depressed now,” he said. declared on BBC Test Match Special.

“They are going to have to get back up because they are not technically out of the tournament. But they’re going to have to change something and change it quickly if they want to compete with the best teams in the world.

Of course, while the shocking nature of Sunday’s defeat left England with plenty of questions to answer, there must also be plenty of praise for Afghanistan.

Buttler said Afghanistan “dominated” England, with spinners Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan taking three wickets each.

“Afghanistan put a lot of other teams on notice today,” Finn said.

“They are very dangerous, they have a lot of good players and if they come together they are going to win a number of games throughout this tournament and upset people along the way.”