‘I just want England to be a bit more switched on..’: Nasser Hussain on ENG’s uninspiring show at T20 World Cup so far

“I wouldn’t say anything to Salt – he has got four T20I hundreds – but I might remind Buttler he is England’s greatest-ever white-ball player and that if he bats 15 overs he is probably going to win games off his own bat. I just want England to be a bit more switched on,” Hussain told Sky Sports Cricket.

England had won the T20 Series in Sri Lanka prior to the T20 World Cup 3-0. The Harry Brook led England side had begun their T20 World Cup campaign with a narrow four-run win over Nepal, a match which saw Sam Curran defending ten runs in the last over. England followed up the win with a 30-run loss against West Indies and a five-wicket win over Scotland. Following the win over Scotland, which came with ten balls remaining, England scored a 24-run win over Italy. The match against Italy saw England posting a total of 202 for 7 in 20 overs before Italy came close to the total eventually bundled out for a total of 178 runs in 20 overs. Hussain also singled out batsman like Jacob Bethell, who got out sweeping in two matches apart from bowler Jofra Archer, who did not run bye off the last ball against Italy, for the uninspiring efforts.

“Jacob Bethell has been out sweeping two games in a row now on a pitch that has produced so many wickets to the top-edged sweep. In the last ball of the innings against Italy, Jofra Archer did not run a bye. That cost New Zealand a World Cup final in 2019. If I am a coach in the dugout, I am making a mental note and saying, ‘you may beat Italy, you may beat Nepal but you need to improve with what’s to come’,” Hussain added.

Hussain’s fellow commentator and former England batsman Nick Knight too was not impressed either by England’s show against Italy. “I was really disappointed with that as a performance. They have done what they needed to do but I wanted to see real authority with bat and ball. It was like England stopped and drifted after taking those early wickets, thinking the game was finished. They bowled short and got whacked, lost coherency, lost a plan. If Adil Rashid doesn’t bowl well in the middle overs, I worry that they are not incisive enough to regain control,” Knight told Sky Sports Cricket.