England World Cup flops facing Champions Trophy qualification failure
England’s one day cricketers fired up with the ball against India after being branded ‘embarrassing’ and with the threat of Champions Trophy qualification failure hanging over them.
The one global trophy that England’s white ball teams have never won is the Champions Trophy and if they finish in the bottom two of this World Cup they certainly won’t win it in 2025 in Pakistan.
The ICC board decided in November 2021 to change the qualification process for the eight team tournament so that the finishing spots in the current World Cup would be the criteria but made zero mention of it in their update from the meeting.
The detail has subsequently emerged in India that the top seven teams from the 2023 group table, plus the tournament hosts Pakistan will qualify for the event.
England were rooted to the bottom of the table ahead of the India clash and with games against Australia, Netherlands and Pakistan to come, there is no guarantee that they will leap above Bangladesh and the Dutch into the top eight.
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An ICC spokesperson confirmed: “Qualification for the ICC Men's Champions Trophy 2025 is the host (Pakistan) plus the top seven teams in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 table at the conclusion of the event. This was approved by the ICC Board in November 2021.”
It would be incredibly embarrassing for the double 50 over and T20 World Champions to be missing from the tournament for the very first time, and will perhaps provide the extra motivation required for them to improve their performance.
Pakistan beat India in the last Champions Trophy final in 2017 (AFP)Former skipper Eoin Morgan reckons their World Cup efforts are already in that category after running the rule over his former teammates having returned to India after becoming a father for the second time.
Morgan didn’t pull any punches in a couple of match previews for Sky Sports in which he blasted the decision-making, the on field performances and the ‘unacceptable excuses’ that have followed.
“I haven’t been impressed at all really,” said Morgan. “And I don’t wash with the idea of every player being out of form. I think that is an unacceptable excuse. That is an unrealistic get out or throwaway comment. I think there's something else going on - there has to be.
“For a side that has the talent, the strength, the calibre and experience of this England squad you can’t have everyone out of form at the same time.
Eoin Morgan has voiced his disappointment with England's World Cup efforts (Getty Images)“In a campaign where England have come in as justifiably second favourites with the quality and results they have and the expertise they have in the squad they have not competed at all. It has been embarrassing to be honest, and unsettling. I've never come across a sports team that has underperformed like this England team, given the level of expectation that is on their shoulders. It calls into question a lot of things.”
And Morgan has put the entire leadership group around the squad in the spotlight including the coach, captain, selectors and top dog Rob Key. Having been the architect of such a clear cut style and strategy for the England team from 2015 onwards, Morgan is understandably perplexed as to why they have changed things so dramatically and so often during the tournament.
“I found it hard to watch against Sri Lanka,” he added. “You don’t make completely irrational decisions when you have a high quality side that have a huge identity with how they play. What is that strategy? What is the planning? Why did they not commit to what has worked previously? Which takes us to the leaders in the group.
“Given how badly the decisions that have been made have gone and have gone away from how England play their white ball cricket makes me think that there is something going on. It reminded me of teams I’ve played in that have been terrible and knocked out of World Cups in dramatic fashion. But in those teams we had no method. We were searching for the right balance because we weren’t a good team.”
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