When England start their Champions Trophy campaign against Australia at Lahore on February 22, it is safe to say they will not be carrying the nation’s hopes on their shoulders.
It is not even six years since a team led by Eoin Morgan embarked on their home World Cup primed for action. Fit, well-oiled and many observers’ favourites, they lifted the trophy on a dramatic day at Lord’s. It remains one of the greatest in England’s cricketing history.
Yet the contrast with Jos Buttler’s side could not be greater. In 18 months, England’s white-ball cricketers have gone from double world champions to also-rans, culminating in seven defeats out of eight in India, some by humiliating margins.
These are early days for Brendon McCullum, now head coach in all formats. But the performances in India inspired little hope England can reach the Champions Trophy semi-finals by finishing in the top two of a group that contains South Africa and Afghanistan — both of whom embarrassed England during the 2023 World Cup.
And while claims by Ravi Shastri and Kevin Pietersen that England barely practised in India appear wide of the mark, they tapped into a broader, damaging perception: this lot prefer golf to cricket, slogging to nuance.
It is an accusation that has already started to dog the Test team, whose hair-raising Bazball strategy began in a blaze of glory in 2022 but has since endured mixed results. And perceptions can be hard to shift, with Buttler this week feeling obliged to play down suggestions of a ‘lazy environment or a lack of effort’.
The pressure is mounting on captain Jos Buttler after England’s performances in India
There are doubts over Brendon McCullum’s ability to translate Test glory to the white-ball game
The question now is whether McCullum can transpose the Test vibes into the white-ball arena — and even whether that approach can bring lasting success against high-class fast bowling or canny spin.
His comments after England lost the third ODI on Wednesday suggest he may already be reaching for the Kool-Aid. ‘You know what I’m like,’ he said. ‘Always optimistic. If you go the other way, you’ve got no chance, right? I have belief in us.’
McCullum’s pedigree and track record demand respect, and in the past 10 years only Australia have won a bilateral ODI series in India. But regardless of their opponents, this was a shaky start. In England’s favour is the fact the pitches in Lahore and
Karachi, where they play their three group games, are likely to be flat, potentially suiting their batsmen and placing a premium on speed through the air, which their attack has in abundance.
But it is unclear whether, right now, they have the confidence to make these factors count.
The 3-0 whitewash in India — following a 4-1 defeat in the T20s — means they have lost more ODIs since the 2019 World Cup than they have won: 32 to 29.
Of the 29 wins, 10 have been against Ireland, the Netherlands and Bangladesh.
Against Australia, they have won three and lost nine. Against India, they have won two and lost eight.
Batsman Liam Livingstone passed 13 only twice in eight innings against the Indians
It is equally unclear whether Buttler is the captain to steer the team into calmer waters. After England’s World Cup disappointments in India in 2023 and the Caribbean last summer, it was head coach Matthew Mott who paid with his job.
Encouraged by McCullum, Buttler has since done his best to cut a more cheerful character. But even he will know a blowout at the Champions Trophy would resurrect the questions about his suitability for the job.
It has not helped matters that Ben Duckett, who was consistently England’s best batsman in India, has injured his groin, or that Gus Atkinson — after a stellar first year in Test cricket — went at more than 10 an over throughout the tour.
Other issues are dogging England, too. Liam Livingstone passed 13 only twice in eight innings against the Indians, while hopes of lower-order runs from Jamie Overton have fallen flat. The 11th-hour return of Tom Banton after an injury to Jacob Bethell sums up the sense that England will arrive in Pakistan sticking a finger in the wind and hoping for the best.
McCullum’s team may yet surprise us all. But it has been no kind of preparation to launch an assault on a global trophy.
