"Does feel like the end of an era" - Nasser Hussain after England's 3rd consecutive defeat in 2023 World Cup
Former England captain Nasser Hussain believes that the national ODI side has reached the "end of an era" with their latest defeat at the 2023 World Cup. Hussain suggested it's time England change their group of players ahead of the next ODI World Cup.
The defending champions came to the World Cup with high expectations, but their performances have been far from impressive. Jos Buttler and co. suffered their fourth loss of the tournament on Thursday in Bengaluru as Sri Lanka beat them by eight wickets.
In his column for The Daily Mail, Hussain said that England had the perfect squad, but feels the need for overhaul moving forward.
"It’s easy to be wise after the event and say ‘it’s an old side, we should have picked Phil Salt or Will Jacks or Ben Duckett.’ But I would not have swapped any of the players England brought here for anyone else. I wouldn’t have changed the side before this tournament but I would definitely be thinking about changing it now because it does feel like the end of an era."
The 55-year-old said that the management made knee-jerk changes following the defeat to South Africa, elaborating:
"I have not seen this England side play as badly in any back to back matches as they have against South Africa in Mumbai and now here against Sri Lanka. They changed their tactics and side again in making three more changes and batting after winning the toss but, really, what’s most important is having players at the top of their games when you arrive at a World Cup."
With Reece Topley ruled out of the tournament with a broken finger, he was a mandatory replacement. England also dropped Harry Brook and Gus Atkinson, bringing in Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, and Chris Woakes.
However, none of those could make any significant difference as England slumped to their third consecutive and fourth loss in five games.
"England’s form has deserted them at the worst possible time" - Nasser Hussain
Nasser Hussain has said that the England batters' current form is nowhere near top teams like India and South Africa. He said:
"England’s form has deserted them at the worst possible time and compare that with, say, South Africa and India, whose batsmen all seem to be in great form, and someone like Glenn Maxwell who can hit a 40-ball century for Australia."
Jos Buttler and co. are still mathematically in contention for a semi-final spot, but need miraculous results to go their way.