'England must be focused in every game to get out of World Cup Pool A', says Nasser Hussain
Out-of-form Morgan needs to play with a more carefree attitude...
Friday 20 February 2015 08:08, UK
England must be "switched on" in every match in order to rescue their World Cup campaign, says Nasser Hussain.
Eoin Morgan's side were blown away by New Zealand in Wellington on Friday, bowled out for 123 before the Black Caps knocked off their target in just 12.2 overs.
England's loss followed on from a 111-run defeat to Australia in their World Cup opener and places them bottom of Pool A, meaning Sunday night's clash with Scotland is now even more imperative.
"England's World Cup fate rests on every single game and they cannot afford any more slip-ups," said Sky Sports pundit Hussain. "They need to be switched on in every game.
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"With rain forecast in Brisbane ahead of Australia v Bangladesh on Saturday, a game everyone would have down as an Australia win, Bangladesh might get a point.
"If that happens, the group could get a little bit dicey and the banana skin becomes a little bit more than that.
"The mind games have started with Paul Collingwood saying if England don't go well in this tournament, Peter Moores' job might be on the line.
"And you can imagine Collingwood getting those Scottish boys absolutely pumped up for Sunday's game, in which anything could happen.
"The luxury of this tournament, as Pakistan proved when winning it in 1992, is that you can start slow and still go far, but England need to start winning soon."
Thinker
Morgan (17) was England's third-highest scorer at The Westpac Stadium - Joe Root (46) and Moeen Ali (20) were the only players to fare better - but the skipper has mustered just 19 runs in his last six innings.
“I thought England would go the natural, instinctive way of Morgan but Eoin has gone the other way and thought too much about his game.
Hussain feels the 28-year-old, who became captain late last year when Alastair Cook was axed from the one-day side needs to play with a more "fearless" attitude to arrest his slump in form.
"New Zealand mirror their captain [Brendon McCullum]'s carefree attitude and I thought that's what would happen with this English side," said Hussain, after McCullum clocked up 77 runs from 25 balls in the Black Caps’ triumph, their third of the World Cup.
"I thought England would go the natural, instinctive way of Morgan but what has happened a little bit is that Eoin has gone the other way and become a deep thinker and thought too much about his game.
"I think he needs to go back - which is easier said than done when you are out of nick - to being the fearless, nothing-to-lose cricketer he was when he burst on the scene with Ireland."
Former England opener Michael Carberry, who watched the match with Hussain in the Sky Sports studio, added: "England need to go back to the drawing board.
"We are playing a brand of cricket that has gone out of fashion and other countries are showing us how to play the modern-day game.
"The batting unit looked a bit fearful and short of confidence and while it was outstanding bowling from Tim Southee (7-33), I don’t think it’s something the England players wouldn’t have seen before as we’ve all grown up with the swinging ball from the age of about 10.
"We also have the problem that lads are going out of the side as quickly as they are coming in, so there is no-one building enough experience and when we get to big tournaments we are stilling searching for the right guys."
Watch England's game with Scotland, from 9pm on Sunday on Sky Sports World Cup.
