Batting collapse could put England at risk in World Cup: Vaughan
Jason Roy. -AFP
||Desk Report||
Former English captain Michael Vaughan warned that the batting collapse could put England’s success at risk in the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, source BBC.
England are now at the top of ICC ODI Team Rankings and will start the World Cup 2019 in their home as the favourites. Though Eoin Morgan’s men have become one of the most explosive sides in the ODIs, Michael Vaughan pointed out that they have a tendency to collapse in every four or five games.
"England have got everything required to win the World Cup except for these moments of madness. It happens every four or five games and if it happens in the semi-final then they are out," said Vaughan.
"The India side around the time they won the 2011 World Cup didn't have the day England had in Barbados on Friday. The Australia side that won in 2015 lost the odd game but they didn't have moments like England do on a consistent basis," he said.
"It's not a [whole] game, it's almost just a period of the game" that hurts the team, the former captain added.
Previously, England were the favourites in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 held in England. But, they crashed out from the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 after losing eight wickets for 83 runs in the semi-final against Pakistan.
In their most recent ODI series in West Indies, they won the first match with record chasing. But in the second ODI, they lost their last six wickets for just 35 runs and conceded a 26-run defeat.
"In that Champions Trophy semi-final against Pakistan, it was just 10 or so overs where England lost four quick wickets and the game was over. That's my concern for them in the World Cup," Vaughan criticized.
However, the former captain believed the solution might be in the batsmen. They should adopt a more patient or old-school approach in certain sticky situations.
"England do get bored if they're not whacking it – if they have not struck a boundary in 10 balls they think, 'I have got to hit one'," he suggested.
"If they continue to play in that fashion they will have games where they completely dominate. But they also have that one game, where I still have a bit of doubt that they might not be smart enough to see themselves through a 20-over period when a bit of old-school cricket might be required," he ended.
