You couldn't make it up.
Not as big a shock as is made out to be - our obsession with very-short-form cricket is coming back to bite us.
Their next game is against Sri Lanka, who themselves only won their first game today against the Netherlands, though managed to make a meal of it. Should England win the SL game watch for all the 'they can still go on to qualify for the semis and go on to win' claptrap in sections of the media, maybe on here too. The World Cup was lost as soon as the final squad was announced - the bowling attack was unbalanced, too old and in Woakes and Wood chose two for English, rather than Indian, conditions. All the nonsense surrounding the position of Jofra Archer (still not match fit even if he were allowed to play) hasn't helped. If the management/captain whoever weren't prepared to play Atkinson until now why include him in the squad? As for spinners, can England afford to leave out Mooen Ali? As they foolishly didn't include Will Jacks as Bairstow's opening partner (Malan to bat at three) his off spin is unavailable and I'd have had Rehan Ahmed in the squad too, rather than Livingstone.
Don't worry, the expanded plans for the Hundred must save English cricket, the ECB says so (as the massive compost-heap of responsibility for England's performance flops limply at its feet).
Topley has a suspected broken finger, so England will probably need a replacement bowler. Despite being selected as a travelling reserve, Archer is not deemed fit enough to be considered!
Unsurprising, as most of them played in The Hundred, some extensively, and what's more, some straight after a very demanding Ashes series.
What a farce, and so predictable! Will the end come in England's ninth match when they meet and are beaten by the Netherlands? Stokes shouldn't have been included unless he was in theory able to bowl some overs, if not the full allowance. Bairstow, Malan, Brook, Stokes and Buttler as non-bowlers, and Root really unlikely to bowl a full quota, puts England at a real disadvantage to all the other teams who each have six, if not seven, who might be expected to bowl 10 overs without it being an emergency situation.
The Netherlands beat South Africa, who then slaughtered England, so..... In any case, it's our last game, by which time we'll already be out.
We will most likely have failed to qualify for the semi-finals by then. The England v Siri Lanka match on Thursday is crucial for both teams, lose and it’s over!
It was the fact that Afghanistan were chasing a Pakistan total of 282-7 and responded with a total of 286-2. Did the Pakistan bowling attack underestimate them?
Apologies, and what's worse I saw the Afghanistan innings!
The Pakistan innings was going well but got slowed down with Afghanistan spinners doing damage. There was then more sloppy Pakistan fielding.
He has not played Test cricket for two and a half years. His last white ball game for England during a short comeback, was a T20 match in Bangladesh last March.
