What has gone wrong for England at the Cricket World Cup?

It is tough to remember a side going into a World Cup with so much hype and anticipation behind them, only to freefall from game one. That’s what has happened to England at the 2023 Cricket World Cup.

It is difficult to envisage how a side that is crammed with world class talent can be beaten so easily across their opening run at a World Cup and, most of all, it is tough to watch. 

England came to India as one of the favourites with bookmakers. Having notched a stunning win over New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup final on their own turf, the reigning world champions were confident, and why wouldn’t they be? 

Many of those same stars returned for another bout, with Jos Buttler leading an all-star cast that included Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Mark Wood, Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali. Throw in the likes of the in-form Dawid Malan, David Willey, Chris Woakes and Harry Brook, and you surely have the makings of a side that would make it to the semi-finals and even the final. 

This could not be further from the truth. 

Heading into their crunch match with Australia on Saturday, England are dead last in the standings with a single win from six matches. Their one victory is the joint-lowest in the competition, while their net run rate of -1.652 is the worst of any side in the tournament. 

While England still have a handful of games to come, the post-mortem already seems to have started, but what has gone wrong for the world champions? AussieBets.com have tried to work it out.

To start with, their batting lineup has been in awful form. Incredibly, bowler David Willey has the best average of any English batsman with 42.00. Dawid Malan’s 39.33 in six innings has seen him notch 223 runs, the most of any batsman in the squad. To put this into context, Quinton de Kock of South Africa is the competition’s top scorer with 545 runs at 77.85.

The usually so destructive Jos Buttler has scored 105 runs and, incredibly has a strike rate of under 100. Meanwhile, the returning Ben Stokes has a dismal 48 runs from 91 balls in three innings. To cap it all off, Bairstow, who is usually so reliable, has scored 141 runs at an average of 23.50. 

The issue is at ground level, with individual batsmen struggling for scores, and this culminates in the team struggling. England have scored less than 220 runs in their last four outings in a row, while they have been beaten by 100 runs or more three times. 

Having the best bowling attack in the game will only get a side so far, with a solid batting lineup needed to set a target the bowlers can defend. Of course, it would be incorrect to claim England’s bowling lineup has been the best at this World Cup, but they have at least shown signs of fight. 

Indeed, they restricted India for just 229/9 in their last outing, with this giving their batsmen an entirely chaseable target. 

As far as bowling goes, the issues for England have come two-fold. First, strike bowler Rashid has struggled, taking just eight wickets in six outings. Alongside this, Chris Woakes has taken his fair share of punishment, while Wood and Willey have taken nine wickets between them. 

Secondly, the loss of Reece Topley was huge for England. Topley snared eight wickets in three matches at an average of 22.87 with best of 4/43. His injury was likely the defining blow in England’s World Cup. 

Could the return of Stokes as a specialist batsman have also been a shortsighted move? Stokes is undoubtedly a sublime talent that has dug England out of big holes in the past. However, with just 48 runs at an average of 16.00, his return has sadly not turned out as he would have wanted. 

Some have also turned on The Hundred as a reason why England are struggling, with the newest format of the game taking precedent over the likes of 50 over and 20 over cricket in England. 

Perhaps if England had focussed more on the 50 over game at domestic level, then they would have performed better in India. This seems especially prominent when considering now nation in the world plays the same format as The Hundred. 

Despite all this, perhaps this is just the biggest sign yet that this is the England’s time to refresh their side. The likes of Stokes, Woakes, Buttler, Bairstow, Ali, Malan, Rashid, Root, Willey and Wood are all over the age of 30. While this does not mean all should retire from the international game, many will question whether another World Cup is beyond them. 

All told, England have been hit by the perfect storm of issues. Their batting lineup has struggled for runs, bowlers have found wickets tough to come by, the opposition has continued to improve and the world champions have lacked intensity. 

While it is hugely disappointing to see England edge towards a bottom of the table finish, perhaps this is the treatment they need to see a new era of English players come through and carry this side towards another World Cup crown at the next competition.