Cricket World Cup 2023: England's heads have gone but hold off on changing the guard - Agnew

Dismal England slump to crushing Sri Lanka defeat

By Jonathan Agnew
BBC cricket correspondent

This is my ninth 50-over World Cup and in that time I have covered England's highs and many lows.

There was 1999 when England were out before the tournament song was released and the surprise run to the final in 1992 with an ageing team.

The early exit in 2015 was horrendous - defeat at the hands of Bangladesh in Adelaide was devastating.

That was hardly surprising given what had come before. Alastair Cook had just been sacked as captain and England were still playing an outdated style of one-day cricket.

This time, however, expectation was high with England double world champions.

Only in 2019, with the side number one in the world under Eoin Morgan and playing in home conditions, has there been higher expectation in my time going into a World Cup.

I may not have expected them to go all of the way and win it but I thought they would definitely be semi-finalists.

That only adds to the crushing disappointment in what we have seen.

Jos Buttler's side have not looked at the races since they first turned up in India. They were thrashed by nine wickets in the tournament opener by New Zealand and have not recovered.

By Bengaluru on Thursday, they looked like a team whose heads had gone.

There was Joe Root's run-out and Jonny Bairstow's poor shot - caught playing a heave to mid-on after two wickets had just fallen.

That was the time for Bairstow to dig in with Ben Stokes, to play sensibly, reassess, bat some overs and get a score on the board.

Instead, his shot was very disappointing and soon after, Moeen Ali looped a cut straight to backward point.

He could hardly have offered up a softer dismissal, except perhaps his one at Headingley in the surprise defeat by Sri Lanka in the last World Cup in 2019.

But, looking back and comparing to that 2019 team, perhaps we should not be surprised at the position England find themselves in with their World Cup effectively over with four games still to play.

They won last time because of the preparation over four years where they made a big investment in the number of games they played.

You knew who would bowl when and how. It was like perfectly tuned engine.

This has been more like Laurel and Hardy's car.

England have been short of best - Buttler

I spoke to Ben Stokes in Cardiff at the start of England's World Cup build-up, before he made his first appearance after coming out of retirement in this format.

I asked how difficult it would be for the team to retune themselves to playing 50-over cricket after their diet of T20s.

He responded by saying "it is not going to take long to get back into the swing of things". I asked Buttler the same question before the opening game in India and he also swatted it away.

Their answers suggested they didn't really consider it a factor, but clearly it has been.

The series against New Zealand, which acted as England's warm-up in September, felt at the time like it was lacking in intensity.

There is not the edge or pressure in those bilateral series.

That means England got to the biggest stage without knowing which players can stand up and hold it together when it matters over 50 overs.

If you prioritise and invest in the format you have a good chance of winning.

If you do not, if you go in with this 'see how we go attitude' with a team that has hardly played together, you will reap what you sow.

From the moment Sri Lanka's bowlers emerged for their warm-up they looked absolutely on it.

Their seamers were running in and bowling hard on the practice pitches in front of our Test Match Special box.

England, meanwhile, marked their runs and went through some bowling but it did not look the same.

This is not hindsight - I thought it at the time. Sri Lanka looked far more ready for a crucial World Cup match.

How England allowed that to happen is impossible to say without being in the dressing room.

We spoke to Paul Farbrace, England's assistant coach in the build-up to 2019, before the game and he expressed how important it is for the coach to get into the mind of struggling players before these game to remind them what they have done well before.

It is so hard to regain confidence in these tournaments.

Watch: Rashid's terrible run out after Sri Lanka bowl a wide

The players are on the road all of the time, with a different bed every few nights. That is not easy.

If you are not in a good place those things quickly become very negative and a team of winners can become a team with moans and groans.

I don't know if England are in that place but it wouldn't surprise me if it comes over the next few weeks because the same players are going to have to come back and go again with nothing to play for in terms of the tournament.

That said, there will be plenty on the line when it comes to their careers.

England handed out their multi-year central contracts on Tuesday but there might be a different view on some of those already.

Attention should turn to the future but of those in this squad, only Harry Brook and Gus Atkinson look guarantees to be around in four years' time, fitness permitting.

But rather than throwing everyone out now England have to carefully plot their path forward.

There is a T20 World Cup in June, meaning it would be too hasty to end careers now.

Buttler should remain as white-ball captain, with others in this squad like Bairstow and Adil Rashid sticking around to try to defend their T20 crown in better fashion than this title defence.

They should go out with a different attitude - show teams they are going to have to play well to beat the defending champions - but after that the changing of the guard may come.

And in the next few years, we will see the true cut of coach Matthew Mott's jib.

Let's see what he is made of with this blank sheet of paper. England have a lot of planning to do for the future.

Jonathan Agnew was talking to BBC Sport's Matt Henry.

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