Test Match Special - CWC Day 27: England hopes hang in the balance as Australia march on

Episode Date: June 25, 2019

Michael Vaughan says England turned up at Lord's this morning with the look of a side who thought they could lose the game. Is the pressure of tournament cricket and the favourites tag really beginning to tell on Eoin Morgan's side? He says not, but that confidence needs to be re-built. India await at Edgbaston on Sunday by which time England could find themselves on the outside looking in for a semi-final qualification spot.You'll also get the post-match thoughts of Alec Stewart and Jim Maxwell, with interviews from Ben Stokes and Aaron Finch.

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disappointing performance by England comes to an end. They've lost here to Australia, as been a convincing victory for them. They've lost by 64 runs. It's another failure to chase, and that does put England in a spot of trouble now, and Australia through to the semi-finals. So well done then. Welcome to Lords, where England have had a nightmare day outplayed by Australia and defeated by 64 runs. If they weren't looking nervously over their shoulders before, they certainly are now, with Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh all right in the hunt for the semi-finals. Let's get straight into our reaction with Alex Stewart, Jim Maxwell, and first Michael Vaugh.

From BBC Radio 5 Live, this is the TMS podcast at the Cricket World Cup. The fact is, Michael, it shouldn't come to a point of what other people have got to do or who's got to fail against what. England have failed and that's the bottom line. Well, they're not playing well enough. You know, you have to look at many aspects of their performances in the World Cup. You know, they batted first against Bangladesh in Cardiff, got a big, big score. They won a good toss at the Hampshire Bowl, the West Indies out, chased that down convincing. They lost against Pakistan at Trent Bridge.

We all expected them to win that. The performance against Sri Lanka, that is the one that I think we're going to be talking about a lot over the course of the next week or so because there's no way they should have lost that game. Today against Australia, up against quite a powerful outfit, I've just said on Commerch here, I think if Owen Morgan had his time again, he would have batted,

having seen the pitch play the way that it did. Hindsight's wonderful, I think many out there would have done exactly the same as Owen Morgan. Aaron Finch would have bowled as well. So you can understand. England didn't bowl well enough. But to lose to Australia on a given day like this, you can do that. You can have an off day and your team can arrive and not play to the standard that you would expect.

That happens, but losing to Sri Lanka should not happen. And that's why England are in this position. And that's why they've given themselves a huge mountain to climb now, that they go and play India. And from the pitches that I've seen at Edgebaston, that is the one venue you won't want to play India. A slow, very similar to what we've seen here, what we saw at Henley on Friday. It'll be a fresh pitch, I think. In England have had their one used one of the tournament, so it'll be a... This was a fresh pitch. Yeah, absolutely. Hadley was a fresh pitch. They will be slow, and England have got to find a way of being able to bowl a bit fuller and bowled to hit the stumps.

They've got to look more alert in the field. I didn't think they looked on it for the first 15, 20 overs. I didn't think there were the same England side in warm-ups this morning, that they'll be able to tell you why. I don't know what was happening, but they looked a team that arrived today knowing that they... could lose the game. I've not seen that from England for a few years. They generally arrive. We'll have a right good go at the opposition and we're going to make it very difficult for them. I didn't see that from the England side this morning. Here's the man in the match, Aaron Finch, and he's with Mike Atherton down at the far end of the ground, receiving his trophy for that excellent century that he scored today. Let's hear from him.

Aaron, your 15th Odei-800, I think. Your best? Ah, I didn't play too badly. I think any time you contribute to a team win, I think that's the most important thing. There's been a few hundreds there. that have been losses, they're pretty hollow, so it's nice to get one in a win. Yeah, it's going to say, I mean, the contacts, the magnificence of the occasion, the importance of the occasion,

all adds a bit of gloss to it. Yeah, it was nice. I mean, to get sent in on a wicket that was seeming around a bit and get through that initial tough period, I mean, Wokesy bowed a hell of a spell, and then for him to go seven in a row up front, and we're hoping he'd quit after five,

and they'd change bowler, but he kept coming, so to get through that and set a reasonable foundation with Davy at the top of the order was nice. 730,800 against England. Does that give you confidence coming into a game like this, the fact that you as an individual have had success against England before? Yeah, I think so.

I mean, there's teams that you sort of just have a bit more confidence when you walk out and play, and I've got enough low scores in there as well. So you have to take the good with the bad at Tongs. And dare I say, it was a bit like test match conditions this morning, wasn't it? Yeah, it was nipping around. It was seeming. I think that we played quite well to sort of rein it in

and make sure that we're as tight as we could be for that initial period and then just try and cash in on any width. Well played. Yes, thank you. Yeah, well played indeed, Aaron Finch. And he'll be pleased Jim Maxwell's here, of course, to enjoy that win.

I mean, he'll be pleased actually that Atherton made the point there about testing conditions and opening the batting and the test match conditions and so on. I mean, you know, it is a little hint there about to Aaron Finch about well played of those conditions. Well, you know, there's another agenda out there which we're not bothering about too much at the moment, but it's the standing of our.

Darren Finch as a test cricketer, not just a one-day cricketer. Will he be forcing his way into the Australian squad, if and when it's named in the next couple of weeks? That in itself is going to be a fascinating announcement with Matthew Wade building out all sorts of fast runs in one-day cricket and the A team. Does he fit into the side? So that's another story. But at the moment, Australia just continued to grow in this tournament,

match by match. I think today they probably got their bowling, better than any other game. I'd agree with that. I've seen two or three, maybe three or four, actually, Australian games now. And they look a much more all-round team there to me. I mean, in the other games I've seen, they didn't quite have that support for Cummins and Stark. But that was, obviously, Berendorf had a great day today. He took five for 44, a better all-round side today, didn't they? They were very, very good, I thought throughout. And although England didn't do themselves justice, was it nervousness, whatever it was, they didn't get it right with the bowling this morning. Didn't pitch it up enough, I think Archer in particular. And Australia got away to a start that could have been wonky. They made a pretty good score when you look at the history of chasing on this ground. 285 was always going to be a very hard task to get through. And then we saw the ball swing.

What's going on? These coquobras aren't supposed to swing. You've brought your own balls, Jim. That's right. If I are in Australia, I wouldn't be asking at the moment, Jim, why you managed to swing the ball and we didn't, okay? That's all we've got, Jim, don't worry. Alex, Stuart. What do you think?

Poor, very poor. It almost wasn't a contest, 64 runs. It was actually a bigger defeat than that, and I felt, because apart from probably the last 14 overs of when England bowled, and they got back into the game and actually restricted Australia to 285 instead of probably 3.30, that was the only time where I thought this is a decent England side. The way they started off with the ball was poor. The way they started off with the bat, they were outdone by more intelligent bowling.

And I just couldn't understand their game plan. Apart from Ben Stokes, who's a wonderful cricketer, the rest of the batting, looking at them, I didn't ever look out there and think they're actually trying to construct a partnership to knock off this totally. It was almost, let's go bang, bang, bang, bang. There was a little bit of that with Butler and Stokes for a short time. Then once Stokes had gone, everyone just fell by the wayside. It's interesting, isn't it?

And we've talked a lot about the approach of England, has been very successful. Let's be honest in these last four years, but the trouble is it can make you 53 for four. And that's the problem, isn't it? If you're going to go out and play like that. But the games they have lost, they've all lost almost in the same pattern. And that's my

issue. If you do something wrong, try and learn from those mistakes so you don't repeat them. But I just keep seeing the same repeat type of errors which creates these defeats. So when they play well, they're going to absolutely smash teams up because they're so positive. But you have to, at times, just rein it back in for a little bit and then go again. But I don't know what Michael thinks.

I think we've got to stop saying, you know, it's made them successful. You know, all right, they've played great cricket and they've got to number one, but they've won nothing. You know, winning trophies, we don't know how to win them because none of us have ever been involved in winning a men's world cup. But the experience from us watching the game tells you that you can't just play one way.

History tells you that you can't play one brand of cricket, because if you do, the opposition can plan to play against you. And it's quite obvious that Australia, they were very clever today. the selections were good and bringing lion in, brought Berendorff, swinging the ball back to the right hand as early. Very clever selection, but you know the way in they're going to play, and you know that if you get a couple of, they'll keep going at you. So if England had batted this morning with the ball dripping around, would they have dug in like Warner dug in for those foot? Probably not. They're following the bat. They've probably been three down quickly. So we can talk conditions. We can talk the toss and the decision. Ultimately, England probably wouldn't have played the same way because it's not the way that they play.

And if they don't, over the next few days, realize that and go, you know, India on Sunday, it might be a $2.50 wicket. Can they get in the game or can they chase down that target by playing a little bit smart? I'm bored of saying it. I'm sure everyone is. It's just playing cricket to win. It's not playing the aggressive. It's playing cricket to win the match. And that's what England have to do now is find two performances. I don't care how they do it.

They've got to win. And that's what the group have to talk about. Forget the brand and the strike rates. They've got to talk about winning. How are we going to win the game on Sunday, end of? And that's going to be a crucial thing. He's reading situations, and you wonder if, you know, I think Owen Morgan is an excellent captain tactically,

I think he's very, very good because he changes things around in the field and he'll have some funky field placings, etc. at times. But I don't think we read the conditions quickly enough to work out what was happening today. Overhead conditions, it may swing. Obviously, we saw the Australian swing the ball. I thought Chris Wokes was okay.

He could have again pictured it. little bit further up. It was generally too short, though, wasn't it? But Archer and Wood were far too short. They didn't draw the batsman forward at all. And as we all, Michael knows as an opening batsman that if you're having to go forward, you're being asked questions.

Well, you didn't really do that. And I like to see the actual wagon wheels of where they scored their runs early on because it felt to me as though too much was off the back foot and a lot of things went square of the wicket, a few paws and things. If there's something in the pitch, pitch it up, make them hit back down the ground and try and work those issues.

You've got to bring it every dismissal. You know, when you get in conditions like England found themselves with a ball in hand this morning, you've got to bring in LBW bowl caught behinds, and then if you just drop it short, of course you might get a lucky one. You might get one, you know, being cut to cover point. You might get a top-edge pull shot. That's the nature of cricket. But I don't think England this morning just asked enough questions of all the dismissing.

And the Australian bowlers actually were much full of than England. Also, there was almost half a lot. They've got it so full up there. And the ball does, we'll sort of swing through there. Stark does that. Stark gets the ball in hand, and all he thinks about is hitting the pole. He'll trap them on the crease. That is a thing.

But, you know, it'd be interesting to see if you were a fly on the wall in that dressing room. Exactly what England is saying, whether that's coming from the coach, Trevor Bayless, whether it's the captain. Simon Mann down there, so I'm going to interrupt you with Owen Morgan. Yeah, so I've got England Captain Owen Morgan with me. Owen, your third defeat, it's your heaviest defeat of the tournament. Was that your most disappointing performance? I think all round, probably with the bat, yes. I think again

we were left short with the basics I thought Australia bowled well up front to make early in roads being 20 for three obviously sets you back quite a lot but to fail to build substantial partnerships that can contribute to chasing a score like that down is disappointing

I thought with the ball we were very good up front but failed so I suppose to make a bit of look or create a chance we beat the bat a hell of a lot having made Australia play and miss which is, you know, it's the rubber de green sometimes

that we didn't have that. And then there's a substantial partnership up front they capitalise on but I think probably from about 25 overs to 50 we did extremely well to peg Australia back for a long time they were looking like getting 3.30 or 3.40 so the bowlers did a really good job there. Did you bowl a bit too short initially with a new ball?

I think when you're making guys play the whole time and they're missing the ball, I don't think it is. I thought the guys perhaps maybe chased it a little bit after we'd bowled well but initially I don't think they've bowed too short. All things being equal, I remember a game here against India last year where you batted first if the conditions hadn't been like they were this morning would you inclined to bat first because that's three defeats batting second now? Yeah I think my decision was based on the conditions

if the wicket was harder, the wicket was actually really soft this morning obviously overheads as well everything lent itself towards bowling but on a ground that I've it's my home ground I know the place inside out if the wicket was harder regardless of the overhead conditions I probably would have batted

Are you feeling the pressure of being the hosts of being the favour? No, not at all we are in charge of how we go from here on in we win two games we definitely go through

it was likewise today if we win every game going in it's a matter of producing that performance in one if not both of the next two games Well, what's confidence like in that dressing room? Yeah, I think it's, you know, it's... Has it taken a hit?

I wouldn't say, here, it's not where it was at the start of the tournament, simply because we started really, really well. I think it's a matter of rebuilding it. India's going to be a tough challenge on Sunday, so is New Zealand the following week in Durham? So it's a matter of rebuilding that at any given stage, going back to our strengths and hopefully sticking to it. What about Ben Stokes?

I mean, he played a fine indie bold well as well, You look to be struggling with an injury. Can you update us on that in any way? No, it was cramp. It's obviously a hot day here today. Ben plays a role in every facet of our game. He runs from end to end in the field and it bowls fast and then obviously has made a major contribution with the bat

so it's nothing to worry about. It's just cramp. What do you think you'll be saying to your side in the next few days? Yeah, today is actually easier than the game against Sri Lanka. Today in many ways we didn't compete for a lot of the games. game. Australia outplayed us, showed us how strong their basics were at the moment and ours need to be better. And it's getting tight now, isn't it, in this World Cup? You've got to win some games? Yeah, one if not too. We're in control of that. Hopefully we can produce.

Owen, thanks very much for time. Thank you very much. So let's hear from Ben Stokes. He's with Rob Bonnet. From a personal point of view with the bat, a good performance, but it's hard to argue that England Radha played both with bat and ball today. Yeah, look, I mean, you know, two two performance like that with the bat as a team is disappointed and something that we're not going to shy away from but you've got to give credit to the way that Sri Lanka and Australia bowl of us over the last couple of games

but yeah we're not going to take too much we're a good team at letting good performances go and also letting bad performances go as well we know you have a plan A but is there a plan B when things get tough when you bat it? We've always got there with plan A and then adjust to whatever's in front of us What kind of adjustments were made, though, today?

You can say that because we lost over 20 for three. It's easy to say that we've gone away from what we do. We need to do this. We need to do that. But, you know, that's what pundits say. But, you know, we're a team with massive belief in the changing room in terms of our method and what works best for us. And we won't shy work from that.

Now, I dare say, in the dressing room, there's been a bit of a gloomy atmosphere and maybe a few calculations about what needs to be done. But one win, whether it's against India or New Zealand, isn't really going to be enough. You've got to win both the remaining matches. Well, we'd be trying to win both here. But now, you know, the same message, as always, from, you know,

within the dressing room when we lose, which is, you know, just keep going. We know it wasn't our best performance today, but we know when we turn up and we play at our best game, you know, teams can't compete with us. So a final thought, then, this World Cup is still within England's grasp, is it? 100%. From BBC Radio 5 Live. This is the TMS podcast at the Cricket World Cup.

What do we pick up from those interviews then, everybody? I mean, it's, I think, I mean, Morgan, you do defend your players, don't you? And I think we'd probably say that we thought that they were a bit too short to start with. But I thought, in any other aspects of his interview is quite honest, wasn't he? Especially about the confidence, actually, and saying it's not where it was at the start. Yeah, I think he speaks very well. You know, he doesn't hide behind things. Yes, I think the lengths that he bowled on reflection when he actually looks at the analysts,

bowling chart it will show that he was a little bit too short but he doesn't hide behind things he knows they're not playing well enough and the confidence will take a hit and be really interested to see if we are a fly and a ball

what he will say to his team what Trevor Bayliss will say to his team because they'll say no we're in a bubble we won't take any notes at what's going on outside but I promise you from palest experience even you say you don't read the newspapers or won't listen the radio TV you will know exactly because it will be

your family your mates or whoever will tell you so that little pressure and I don't actually like the word pressure because it is just a word but the expectation is going to grow and grow and grow and going into birmingham on Sunday where that is going to be an India home crowd it will absolutely it will on a pitch which doesn't generally have pace even though it will be a new surface I understand it will be hard work so there's a lot to do between now and Sunday yeah that confidence Michael that that that is going to be key isn't it I mean to lose two games and to know again well as we said

today but to know that really there is no bottom line now they've just got to get out there and win these two. Yeah, because somehow as a leader, I mean, you know, I thought he spoke with honesty. Look, he got it wrong in terms of the bowling. The bowling wasn't good enough. Wasn't full enough, as Alex said, the data will prove that. What he's got to do now between now and Sunday as a leader is somehow try and get around his team individually.

He's got to find confidence in Johnny Birstow. He's got to try and blow up Johnny Birstow's tire somehow because Johnny is such a key component at the side. I can't see how Jason Roy can play Sunday and be anywhere. near fit. Well, I'm going to ask you about this. I mean, how much, how much, has that pressure word again, but how much pressure is there going to be on England and get him out there? Well, you know, Vince, Vincent, again, he's failed again today. James Vince can't play for me on Sunday. I just don't see how you can continue to play

James Vince at the top. He's had three games now. He's had three failures under the pressure of what this World Cup now is. You know, it might be that they get to Jason Roy and that they have to wheel him out somehow. It might be at that stage. England do need to win two games cricket and it might be that they have to get Jason Roy out there to win him a game potentially and if he does his hamstring well he might have helped win the game he's going to do more than James Vince at the minute and James Vince looks to me like that was a pretty good ball today but he's had so many failures playing for him. It was a loose shot to a decent ball yeah he's had so many failures under the pressure you got to remember James Vince has played in some big game

he's played in Ashy series and he's now played in the World Cup I just don't see how you you can roll him out against Bunra Shammy on Sunday at Edgebast and I think it would be worth and the medical team will work 24-7 to try and make sure that Jason Roy is wheeled out there on Sunday But then again, that heaps it on to him

doesn't it? I mean back he comes is undoubtedly not going to be 100% He hasn't battered for aegee I think tomorrow's result Pakistan New Zealand will decide what they do with Jason Roy I think if Pakistan turn New Zealand over then they may have to press the gamble

button and go Jason we need you we understand that you play you may go bust and that's your tournament finish and potentially the start of the ashes but we've got to that stage which isn't ideal for any individual it's not ideal for a team to know that they're going in there

with a wonderful player but a really high risk question mark against his fitness not just in that game but for later on in the summer too so see where they are tomorrow after the Pakistan New Zealand game and then I think decisions will be a little bit clearer

yeah and also you're looking at Moin Ali you know Moin Ali is a key component and he will have to play on Sunday they will need two spinners You know, the pitch will take a bit of spin. And again, Moinelli got criticized for his shot against Flang. Absolutely right, he should have been. But what you have to do as a team in that dressing room

and around the hotel over the next few days, you somehow as a leader and a group of management, you're in management now. You've got to try and get the good feeling back into the players. Somehow you've got to show them all their good innings over the course of the last few years. They need to find over the next few days just that inner belief.

Because there'll be lots of talk. The charts will come. come out, you know, the blackboard will be out in them. There'll be many, there'll be many, we will be saying they need to do things differently. Somehow they've got to try and find a way of finding confidence in individuals. What they mustn't do is panic though. They've still to

keep that calm head and that's where Morgan is an outstanding leader. You know, he doesn't have too many highs, he doesn't have too many lows. Now, going back to your point about James Vince, he shouldn't open, suggesting here, because he so far hasn't done it, so that pressure, the word I hate, is building, do they go

and if Jason Roy isn't right, or it's a little bit too risky. Do they go Moen Alley and just go, go out there and express yourself, almost be the Moen Alley that we saw when he first came into international cricket, express yourself, if you get out early but being attacking, so what, but that's your strength hitting the ball and then

allow whether it's a Liam Plunkett to come in, a Tom Curran, I don't think they'll go with Liam Dawson against India, though I don't think they'll play three spinners, but look at something different, but may just catch India by surprise, but also free up Moen Alley. I would prefer that.

I mean, we've been around international sport enough to realise that for James Vins to suddenly go on Sunday and produce an unbelievable performance, that is so hard. With the pressure that is on. It looks a long shot up, mate. It does. And probably the best shot would be if Jason isn't right to throw a moment at the time. Say, go on, go on, just go and have a go at Bumra. Just try and say, it won't be easy, by the way, because he's outstanding, but go and have a go at him. Or, Agnes, you could get your wish.

Is it my moment? You could get your wish. Is Chris Wilkes and finally open the batting? Why not? You know, it might be at that. stage that they might have to do something like go root did it as well uh lyddeny so i won't do that i just jo roos stays at three he's the glue but they may have to think out the box for that opening position if jason roy is at fair might be my moment i'm enjoying this conversation i know i'm sure you

are i've worked i've worked out that pakistan will finish on 11 points in england at the risk of finishing on 10 yeah which means they'd finish fifth isn't it might not even get 10 they might only have 8 which say 10 which puts them about 8 but 10's not going to get you win necessarily. No, it's not. No, that's the problem. That's where it's all interesting. Yeah, yeah. Look at Mr. Smug over there. This is a lot of qualified. You sound surprised. Well, you need, you need to remember that Australia have now won consecutive World Cup matches on this ground, the 1999 final and today. All right, Jim, who do you want in the semis? Come on. Who do you want in the semis? Well, I would say if Australia could play

New Zealand and India can deal with England or Pakistan. And, um, You'd be happy. They'd be happy, yeah. What have we got left to pick over Berendorff? Is that surprising, that performance? Jim, I mean, he's always been talented, he's had injury woes, hasn't he? Like all Australian fastballers, there's always an injury problem.

It has surprised me, given that it was only his second game in the tournament. Yes. So they've been on a bit of a fishing expedition, let's face it, to try and cover a gap that's really been created by the fact that one of their best, bowlers in one day cricket Josh Hazelwood's not here and so they've tried Kiltaniel

and I honestly don't think his bowling's been good enough not consistent to know I think under the kosh of a tense game and a good deck he could go around the park they've got away to an extent with Stoinus

I'm still not convinced that at this stage he's a better bet than Mitch Marsh certainly not with the ball Marsh has just disappointed with the bat, but you look at Marsh's numbers and Andy might be able to look them up. Mitch Marsh's numbers in one-day cricket are pretty impressive.

So when you look at the squad they have here, it's pretty easy to argue that this is probably not the best squad that they could have put out. And yet, it's producing an 11, as we've seen today, that's certainly full of confidence, that there's Nathan Lyon playing only his 26th one-day international. for a guy who's taken 343 test wickets. Come on, folks.

Never played a World Cup game before. It does seem very old, doesn't it? It does. By design or accident, they seem to have got to a point of getting the combination right now. Yes. And I think this is a combination

that could certainly win the tournament. Mitchell Stark's the best strike bowler in the last two World Cups, and we saw evidence at that again today. No one hits the stumps more often than Mitchell Stark or the pads. One day cricket is interesting, is it? And if you're on a winning roll, you steamroller on.

Once you get to that top of the hill and down you go, it actually takes quite a lot to turn it back round again, doesn't it? Well, that's why it's interesting to see, you know, how England respond from this. You know, we haven't seen England lose two on the trot for such a long period of time. We're not used to it. We're used to them, and they spoke about it yesterday, they used to respond in and hammering the next team that's in front of.

They did that to Bangladesh. after the defeat to Pakistan and you know this will hit them hard this will hit them hard but they're not out of it you know and they've got a lot of character in that dressery and they've got a lot of talent but they're going to have to spend a bit of time with each other just just trying to find a method and also I think it's good to talk about negativity I think sometimes you can just talk about all the positives oh yeah but we did this no no no just sit down and talk about the negative things that they've done over the last four days because if they don't and they don't address them and don't accept that they've made mistakes I can't see how they go

forward it. If they sit in a room and go, you did that wrong, you did that wrong. By the way, if we're getting that position again, you've got to play differently. Point a few fingers. You're like to have a bit of a go at each other. That's sport. That's in a dressing room environment. That's normal. You can't all be friendly and pat, you know, mowing on, nice chap. Come back to Marry and skip, you know, bottle a bit full. No, have a go at each other and try and point the finger because to win a World Cup, you're going to have to be harsh to each other at time. Now's the time. Not to us. Don't tell us what you're doing in the dress room or in the team room. Point a few fingers.

arrived at Edgebaston and try and produce a more consistent performance. You just do Owen Morgan, say, the basics, and that's what you're going to have to deliver. Will the basics be good enough to be India? Maybe not. Maybe not. But you're better off starting there than trying to be completely flamboyant and getting exposed too soon like they have been done today.

Let's get a statistical insight into what's happened today, shall we? Well, just quickly on Jim's question, Mitchell Marsh, as a bowl in ODI cricket averages 35 economy rate 5.5, and Stoinus averages, 42, economy rate 6.1. Their batting stats are very similar. A few things to pick up from today's game. We've talked a lot about how brilliant England had been at chasing.

They'd won 17 consecutive chases at home, and they've now lost three out of four in this tournament. They've been bowled out in their last 43 innings at home, so since the start of 2016, sorry, 43 innings anywhere. They've been, no, this is home. They've been bowed out only four times under 265. There was a dead game here against South Africa when they were six down for 20, but the other three have been in major tournaments.

There was the Champions Trophy semi-final in Cardiff on a slow, difficult pitch, and then the two in the last few days in this World Cup. And when you look at the scoring rates in ODIs in England outside those two tournaments, compared within those two tournaments, there's about a 10 to 12% drop-off. So the one day is between 2015 and 2017 up to that Champions Trophy, runs are scored at 6.14 in the Champions Trophy 5.54. In between the Champions Trophy in this World Cup

6.43 and in this World Cup it's been down at 5.7 and some of the grounds have had a huge drop off. Southampton down from 6.4 to 4.7 per over. So it's almost a different type of cricket and England have not been... Do you know what they need to do? They need to all go in the room and just put the hand up and walk into them and I said I've got a problem batting on slow wickets

and if they all do it they've got a problem batting on these kind of wickets and they may improve by just admitting a little bit of a fair. They have played on some absolute roads, haven't they? Coming up to this and they've stood there and smacked a ball that hasn't moved an inch. But top sides are adaptable. That is a thing they think on their feet.

It's not just we'll play this way regardless. And this is where going back to Markle's point about the dressing room. The best dressing rooms are honest dressing rooms where they're prepared to dig each other out, pull each other up. Praise them as well, but be brutally honest. Both the individual about himself and about his teammates too. And he might fall out for 10 minutes.

You might fall out for an hour. what? Because in the biggest scheme of things that will bring the team together and that will make the team stronger because they're learning and developing. So those are the defeats so far.

There were moments where they should have beaten Pakistan, moments where they should have beaten Sri Lanka. Not sure about today. No, there wasn't one facet of the game today. When you look at selection, mentality, pre-match,

batting, bowling, fielding, captaincy, there wasn't one facet that I reckon England matched Australia. won the last 15 overs of Australia's batting innings, and that was it. The rest of the time, they got absolutely hammered. From BBC Radio 5 Live,

this is the TMS podcast at the Cricket World Cup. Well, Andy, before we read out some more of these emails, Man in the Match, come on, I just said there, it's always the bats when they get the Man of the Match, isn't he? He knocks out 100, and that's it. Let's give it to him. Bowlers never get it. No, and to me the decisive player in the match was Mitchell Stark.

I know Berendorf got five and bowled superbly, and started things going with that brilliant. and delivery to Vince. But Stark got out England's best player, Joe Root, with an absolutely perfect in-swinger. He got out England's Captain Morgan, and then when the one moment where it looked like England might turn the game, he bowled out Ben Stokes

with another glorious delivery. And we're talking about his stats. He's the bowler who hits the stumps most in the history of one day cricket out of those who've taken at least 70 wickets. He's got 41 wickets in 15 World Cup matches. Only one other players ever taken more than 34 in a 15 match sequence.

and he's out of his 17th four-wicket innings in 82 matches. Now, the next highest number of forfers at this stage of a player's career was 12 by Wacki Eunice and Sacklein Mushdak. His numbers in whiteball cricket, particularly World Cups, extraordinarily. Currently, 41 wickets average 13.9 in World Cups. So tall, the angle, the ability to bowl right up on the block hole and with that bit of reverse swing too. And that's the ingredients to Mitchell stock. At a high pace.

Fantastic to watch as well. as a cricket fan, it's glorious. You feel him, when he runs in, he just looks rather sinister, doesn't he? I mean, he's just got this, you know, this presence. He runs in, it's quite smooth, it's quite short. This looks rather clinical to me. And we've seen Australia struggling one day cricket,

not just with the 5-0 defeat over here with a shadow team last summer, but more generally, and his return to form, even when he's the other thing, he's such a good white baller, he's almost turned them from potential also rounds to, you know, possible tournament winners. Right, well, let's share it.

ourselves up there, but we're still trying to chalk off all these countries from around the world, aren't we? At the latest count, we're one short of the 150 milestone. Douglas Crook, I'm just reaching the end of my shift working in Algeria, thought I should check in to help fill out the flags of the world here in the Sahara. No grass

around, apart from the few patches irrigated here in the compound to add a touch of greenery, so not much risk of an impromptu game of cricket breaking out any time soon unless someone wants to practice for the first match on Mars. Thank you, Douglas. I have an old magazine from the 1930s that has a very entertaining page on what cricket would be like if it was played on the moon.

Oh. Maybe in a future podcast later in the dawn and we can be discussing it. Wouldn't the ball just float off? Well, everyone just float away. It was in the 1930s and they weren't entirely sure what the moon would be like. But they did, yeah, there would be some enormous sixes. So it might be something that the ECB might like to look out for the hundreds. That's to tie people down, wouldn't you? Oh, how does that work?

Yeah. Be tricky, certainly. Thomas Crewe says, hello TMS. You've been a constant companion through my two years studying at Stanford in the US. as a graduation gift to myself I'm now travelling around Central America thus where I've listened to TMS in Belize and Guatemala

ahead at El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua well that's four new countries ticked off we'd had some of them and that's four there's a glorious stroke from Thomas crew that's sizzling to the boundaries that's gone flying to the ropes Andrew Prentice

hi all a friend and fellow TMS fan tells me you're still after a listener in the Gambia I work here for the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine emails to half my collaboration rate as worldwide have cricket comments when a match is on. The other half are Americans and other Europeans who have yet to be converted to cricket, but I'm working on them quite right, Andrew.

Keep working. The world needs more cricket. Mike Lord, as bad as South Africa have been, I've been enjoying your World Cup podcasts in Libreville, Gabon. I hope that's a new country for you to take off. It is indeed. Excellent. Ian Phillips, working and listening to the commentary in Busan, South Korea. As an Englishman who sat the Australian citizenship test last week. I'm now dreading my

return to Perth. Well, that is jumping ship, isn't it? It is rather. A couple of defeats in the World Cup. He's leaving the country. This comes from Peter Davis. Hi, Agassonka. I'm listening to the podcast in the sky above Laos on my way home to Hong Kong from Chiang Mai and Thailand

where I've been working. I took off with Australia at 244 for 5 with 5.3 over's left and I have to wait nervously until I land to see if England have kept up their momentum. Well, I'm afraid there is bad news yes um p s i once faced aggers on the lodge quad at school

where he'd come to visit his brother i must have been aged 14 he was about 21 needless a day i never saw the ball let alone blocked it he bowed me for a duck with the perfect fast yorker sounds familiar it was a great great fun that quad cricket james whittaker was in with me and he used to keep slamming it over into it was six and out into the dustbins and james would do that quite regularly short pitch probably only 12 yards the right-handed peak mitchell stark yeah i think there was a bit of a drain

you know, on a good length. That's always key in that level of cricket, isn't it? No, you're trying. So, there we go. Good old quad cricket. The TMS podcast at the Cricket World Cup. Download and subscribe via the BBC Sounds app for a new episode every day.