"England Cricket Is Naive...": Ex-Star After Shocking 3-0 Loss To India Ahead Of Champions Trophy

Former England cricketer Mark Butcher has raised concerns about whether England possess enough experience in the 50-over format to compete effectively in the upcoming Champions Trophy. His remarks came after England suffered a humiliating 3-0 series defeat against India, exposing significant weaknesses in their ODI setup. Speaking on the Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast during England's third ODI loss in Ahmedabad, Butcher highlighted the lack of match experience among the squad. England fielded several inexperienced players in the series, including Jacob Bethell, who had played just 16 List A games before making his ODI debut last summer.

Gus Atkinson, who made his international debut in 2023 after featuring in only two List A matches, endured a difficult tour, conceding 139 runs across two ODIs. Following Bethell's injury, England recalled Tom Banton, who hadn't played a single 50-over match since his last ODI appearance in 2020.

"The first thing that sprung to my mind during the first two ODIs was just how naive most of our cricket is in the 50-over format," said Butcher, as quoted from Wisden.

"I thought 'why might that be?'. It's because we don't play any. There is a world of difference in terms of the tempo that the game needs to continuously be played at. I don't mean that the tempo is a rigid graph that only goes up, the tempo needs to fluctuate in 50-over cricket in a way that it doesn't need to in 20-over cricket. Having that skill and nous and game awareness to know when to put the foot down and when to ease off a little but, when to sit in and when to go hard, is something that only comes with playing lots of it," he added.

"I remember back in the 90s when England would play three Texaco Trophy matches during