Follow UsPhil Salt departs trying to slog mindlessly.
Jamie Smith, not knowing what a No.3 batter is supposed to do in ODI cricket, perishes in identical fashion trying to copy Salt.
Harry Brook departs trying to ‘attack’ spin because he has no idea how to milk runs.
Liam Livingstone, evidently with zero game awareness, gets stumped in the 21st over with the side already five down and when the only thing that’s needed is for him to bat as long as possible.
If there ever was a batting performance that summed up the Jos Buttler era in ODI cricket, this was it. Before this South Africa contest, England had lost 18 of the last 25 ODIs they had played, and inside two hours of this clash, one could exactly see why.
Every time you think this English white-ball side has hit rock bottom, they somehow find a way to hit a rockier bottom.
For real, though, can it get more embarrassing than their showing in Karachi today?
Fine, you’ve been knocked out of the Champions Trophy. Fine, you have nothing ‘real’ to play for. But where is the pride? Where is the commitment? Where is the fight?
It is one thing being down on confidence, but all English batters today barring three — Duckett, Root and Buttler — batted as if they were doing a favour to the rest of the world by simply showing up. How they went about their business felt like borderline dereliction of duty.
Things like ‘disrespecting the shirt’, ‘not trying hard enough for the country’ are usually very boomerish statements but, honestly, can any of Salt, Smith, Brook and Livingstone look back at the end of the day and say they did justice to the shirt? That they repaid the faith the fans, selectors and management showed in them?
A dead rubber is, well, a dead rubber, but you couldn’t help but see some of these players bat today and think that they took an ODI cap — an appearance in an ICC event no less — for granted.
It’s truly a sad, sad way for Buttler’s captaincy stint to end. And, at this point in time, he must seriously be thinking how it got to this stage.
Just about a decade ago, he was the right-hand to Eoin Morgan, and together they ensured that a ‘winning culture’ was instilled in not just the first-team players but in the entire English cricket ecosystem. Now Buttler is at the helm and half the players look like they couldn’t care. Talk about a fall from grace.
Well Buttler is gone now, but will a mere change in captain fix this ‘don’t care’ issue that seems to be plaguing English cricket?
It’s up to Brendon McCullum and Rob Key now, and time will tell whether they’re part of the solution or problem.