Lucknow (AFP): Defending champions England are feeling the heat of a lacklustre World Cup campaign but assistant coach Marcus Trescothick insisted Saturday that they haven’t “lost faith” in the under-pressure 50-over format.
England face unbeaten hosts India in Lucknow on Sunday, coming into the contest with four defeats from five matches to languish ninth in the 10-team table and with their hopes of making the semi-finals almost over. “We’re all feeling the heat. But what can you do? We prepared the same, we’ve done things very similar to what you’d expect,” Trescothick told reporters.
“Every practice we go through we’re coming out the other side thinking we’re in a good place and feeling quite right. It’s just not quite worked then when we go into the games.” Critics have targeted England’s approach to the 50-over format after they won the crown in 2019. They played just 13 ODI matches in the build-up to their title defence.
“Forgive me, I don’t want to be blunt here, but we haven’t lost faith in what it is,” said Trescothick. “We love playing any form of cricket, any form of the game that we play. And we were desperate to come here and try and win back-to-back 50 over competitions. So, we’re still very much focused on all formats.”
He added: “I think nowadays the cricket structure is so busy, right? It’s really busy. You’ve got to plan in Test matches, T20s, 50s. And we’re always trying to get the balance right — sometimes we do, sometimes we don’t.” Trescothick, a former left-hand batsman who played 76 Tests and 123 ODIs for England between 2000-2006, said the team is looking forward to playing India and make the occasion their own. “I think playing against India in a World Cup in their own country is a special part of the game, you get these opportunities that come around – you know there’ll be a big crowd, there’ll be a wonderful occasion,” he said.
“We’re looking forward to that chance. I think there’s nothing more that we can offer apart from going out and playing that performance. And then hopefully you come out on top at the end of it. So, really excited for it.” England’s latest loss was to Sri Lanka by eight wickets in a match their batting folded for 156 to leave their semi-final hopes in tatters.
Trescothick said for now it’s about getting their act together than pursuing a place in the final-four. “I think we’re more focused on getting our performance right, getting the better levels of performance than what we’ve shown in the last few weeks,” he said. “So, that sits over there and it will just look after itself. If it happens, it happens. We know it will be very challenging. Mathematically, it’s still possible. But, it’s very tough.”
Rahul looks for ‘happier memories’ at scene of injury: India’s KL Rahul hopes to have “happier memories” of Lucknow in the World Cup clash against holders England on Sunday after he suffered a serious injury at the venue on his last visit. Unbeaten India take on a struggling England team in this northern Indian city, the home base of an Indian Premier League franchise captained by Rahul. But he carries some painful memories of Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium after he injured his thigh while fielding in this year’s IPL T20 tournament and was helped off the ground in visible discomfort.
The injury kept him out for five months before he returned to the team during the Asia Cup tournament won by India in Sri Lanka last month and made the squad for the World Cup. “I am a little sad about the injury that I had, it kept me out of the game for 4-5 months. That was a tough time,” Rahul told reporters on Saturday. “Whoever has an injury, if you ask anyone – they undergo surgery and to come back, it takes a lot of hard work, a lot of patience and you have to go through that which is not very easy.”
Rahul made a strong comeback post-injury with a match-winning century against arch-rivals Pakistan in the Asia Cup and smashed 97 not out in a win over Australia in the World Cup. But coming back to the scene of his injury, Rahul wants to put to rest the pain of the past with a good performance. “In cricket, whatever ups and downs happen, sometimes you score 100, sometimes you don’t, that success or failure you can handle but this painful time was there, doing physio and coming back into cricket,” said Rahul.
“I can’t say that it is not in my mind. Yesterday when I came to the ground, last memory of this ground is falling down and injuring myself. Hopefully I can put that aside and I can make some better and happier memories to forget all of that.”
