The sun set over the Chinnaswamy Stadium, casting a long shadow of disappointment on England after they lost to Sri Lanka in a do or die encounter. The hope for World Cup qualification has now slipped away from their grasp. Coach Matthew Mott stood in front of his dejected players, the surrounding air was filled with disappointment and a sense of misery.
“It’s over now, I think. I’m not a mathematician, but with our net rate and too many teams who are going to take games off each other, we have to come to terms with that from now we’re playing for a lot of pride,” he said, his voice tinged with sadness.
The team had just suffered a humbling eight-wicket defeat by Sri Lanka, leaving them ninth in the standings. It was their fourth loss in five matches, and the only team below them was the Netherlands, the sole non-test playing nation at the 10-team World Cup.
The players knew that mathematically, there was still a slim chance, but Captain Jos Buttler’s words echoed in their minds: “We need a few miracles.” They had let down their fans, families, and supporters, and their dreams of glory had turned into a distant mirage.
As they left the field, the team gathered in the dressing room, trying to make sense of what had just transpired. “England lost to Sri Lanka in space of 59 overs”, the weight of this defeat hangs over them, but Coach Mott is determined not to let it break their spirit. “We have to use this in a really positive way,” he said. “When you lose like this, it has to sting and has to hurt, but something good has to come out of it.”
The English players know they have a lot of soul-searching to do. A few commentators and pundits want to call it an end of an era but in reality, there has been no conviction in how England has played ODI cricket in last 12-18 months.
Being realistic, Mott didn’t want to label it as the end of an era, but he accepted that they had missed a golden opportunity, especially after winning the T20 World Cup the previous year. “For us, every time you play a World Cup you know it could be your last… they don’t come along very often,” he reminded them.
The future held a glimmer of hope in the form of the T20 World Cup in June 2024. Mott’s focus was already shifting to the next challenge. “We need to get better,” he emphasized. “A T20 World Cup is the next thing on the agenda. We need to make sure we do our best preparation and hopefully we put in a much better performance.”
That is a thing of future and it will be not be good choice to jump ahead to not take the current happenings in consideration. England has quickly gone from “we have to win” to “we cannot lose” mindtest. Such a thing that is insidious and every individual of English team is affected by this mentality.
In urge to perfect all dimensions of the game, England lost its substantial force. These results are the reflection of the attitude they have currently in this world cup. So many things to look at in so little time for Jos Buttler, now it appears that he is overthinking about everything, only freedom can set them free and their fate has chosen India as their next match-up who are supremely confident amongst all teams.
