England chokes yet again at World Cup
Source: Agencies |
March 28, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IF the label of chokers is now stamped firmly on South Africa in big tournaments, England is not lagging far behind - at least when it comes to a 50-over World Cup.
Since its defeat to Pakistan in the 1992 final, England has not reached the semifinals in the last five World Cups.
Saturday's 10-wicket demolition at the hands of co-host Sri Lanka in the quarterfinals in Colombo means England has to wait until 2015 to have a crack at its maiden World Cup title on the hard and bouncy wickets of Australia.
The 3-1 Ashes victory in Australia might be the proudest moment for captain Andrew Strauss earlier this year, but England needs to closely study the manner in which his team performed in the World Cup on slow subcontinental wickets.
"Generally English teams in the subcontinent haven't played well enough to compete day in, day out," Strauss conceded after his team was knocked out by Sri Lanka.
Alarm bells
England forgot to hear the alarm bells when Australia knocked it over in the post-Ashes limited-overs series with a tennis-like scoreline of 6-1 in February.
Strauss sought to justify his team's early elimination from the World Cup by complaining about the scheduling of the Ashes too close to the World Cup and the workload on his players over the last five or six months. "I think you could cite tiredness, but that would be running away from the issue," Strauss said.
Strauss was also not willing to question the commitment of his players in the tournament, which saw them conceding 292 runs in the opening group game against the Netherlands and then two embarrassing defeats to lowly ranked Ireland and Bangladesh.
As if injuries to key players Kevin Pietersen, Ajmal Shehzad and Stuart Broad was not enough to dent England's chances midway through the World Cup, leftarm spinner Michael Yardy also left the team just two days before the quarterfinals due to depression. "You try and learn lessons and move on, there is no beginning or end to a cricket team," Strauss said.
Since its defeat to Pakistan in the 1992 final, England has not reached the semifinals in the last five World Cups.
Saturday's 10-wicket demolition at the hands of co-host Sri Lanka in the quarterfinals in Colombo means England has to wait until 2015 to have a crack at its maiden World Cup title on the hard and bouncy wickets of Australia.
The 3-1 Ashes victory in Australia might be the proudest moment for captain Andrew Strauss earlier this year, but England needs to closely study the manner in which his team performed in the World Cup on slow subcontinental wickets.
"Generally English teams in the subcontinent haven't played well enough to compete day in, day out," Strauss conceded after his team was knocked out by Sri Lanka.
Alarm bells
England forgot to hear the alarm bells when Australia knocked it over in the post-Ashes limited-overs series with a tennis-like scoreline of 6-1 in February.
Strauss sought to justify his team's early elimination from the World Cup by complaining about the scheduling of the Ashes too close to the World Cup and the workload on his players over the last five or six months. "I think you could cite tiredness, but that would be running away from the issue," Strauss said.
Strauss was also not willing to question the commitment of his players in the tournament, which saw them conceding 292 runs in the opening group game against the Netherlands and then two embarrassing defeats to lowly ranked Ireland and Bangladesh.
As if injuries to key players Kevin Pietersen, Ajmal Shehzad and Stuart Broad was not enough to dent England's chances midway through the World Cup, leftarm spinner Michael Yardy also left the team just two days before the quarterfinals due to depression. "You try and learn lessons and move on, there is no beginning or end to a cricket team," Strauss said.
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