Nasser Hussain said it was “disrespectful” to Pakistan to blame England’s shock eight-wicket Champions Trophy semifinal defeat on a used Cardiff pitch.
England, previously the only unbeaten team in the tournament and huge favourite to defeat Pakistan, was bowled out for just 211 here on Wednesday.
Pakistan, which suffered a 124-run thrashing by India in its opening group game, then cruised to the meagre victory target with 77 balls to spare.
The pitch played more like a sub-continental surface than a British one and England captain Eoin Morgan said afterwards: “Coming from Edgbaston, it was obviously a big jump in pace and bounce and too much of an ask for us to adjust to, really.” Morgan added Pakistan was more comfortable because “they played two days ago on it (when beating Sri Lanka in a virtual quarterfinal)”.
‘Lame excuse’
But legendary Pakistan fast bowler Waqar Younis said blaming the pitch was a “lame excuse” and former England captain Hussain agreed.
“There will be a lot of talk about the Cardiff pitch after Pakistan dumped England out of the Champions Trophy. But that won’t wash with me,” Hussain wrote in his Daily Mail column. “It’s disrespectful to Pakistan, who played brilliantly and made the best of the conditions.”
‘Timid play’
Hussain lamented England’s “timid play”, which he said was in marked contrast to the way it had revived its ODI fortunes since a woeful first-round exit at the 2015 World Cup.
“Their coach Trevor Bayliss has always asked for them to play smart cricket, not just gung-ho cricket. This was anything but smart. In fact, it was timid.”
Michael Vaughan, another former England captain, said in his Daily Telegraph column that he felt “flatter” than at the time of the World Cup exit two years ago.
The Ashes-winning skipper added: “Here they had every facet covered with 10 of the 11 players in form and the side playing a style of cricket that makes them a match for any team in the world, so to play that badly in a semifinal, with everything riding on the game, was terribly disappointing.” Michael Atherton, another former England captain, said Morgan’s men had “fluffed their lines”.
England came into the Champions Trophy with high hopes and had won 11 of its previous 12 ODIs before Wednesday’s reverse.
“There were huge expectations they’d go on to win the tournament, I think justifiably so on the back of what they’ve done over the last year-and-a-half,” said Atherton. “As a result, the bar was set very high for this tournament, and they’ve failed to deliver — that’s the brutal truth of sport.”
England has never won a major ODI trophy despite appearing in 19 global events at this level since the inaugural World Cup in 1975.
Now England’s wait will continue until at least 2019 — when it will stage the next World Cup.
