MOORES EFFORT
England boss tells senior stars to step up
COACH Peter Moores has told his batsmen they must deliver if England are to revive their World Cup campaign.
England face a crunch clash with Scotland in Christchurch tonight (10pm GMT) with the weight of pressure on their shoulders after they were brushed aside by Australia and New Zealand in their opening two games.
In both matches England have been bowled out to continue a worrying trend that has seen them fail to last the 50 overs in 13 of their past 19 one-day internationals.
In their opener against Australia in Melbourne they slumped to 92 for six – James Taylor’s unbeaten 98 then papered over the cracks – before their Wellington humiliation on Friday.
England were bowled out for 123 by New Zealand, their lowest World Cup score on foreign soil, as Tim Southee ran riot with figures of seven for 33.
‘We have to accept that yesterday and the MCG weren’t good enough,’ Moores said.
‘You can spin it how you like but that wasn’t an acceptable batting performance. As coaches we have to work with them and to find a way of being able to produce a good enough performance to get some momentum.
‘We have to get some momentum into our team.’
England are unlikely to come up against many better attacks than those Australia and New Zealand boast during the World Cup, but their failure to handle the pressure underlined fears they may not be equipped to even reach the quarter-finals.
When Southee returned for his second spell in Wellington, after Dubliner Eoin Morgan’s exit, it prompted a remarkable collapse of seven for 19 as England were cruelly exposed against the moving ball.
‘We have played against two good teams who are very confident and put us under pressure,’ Moores said.
Pakistan, the side who Ireland play last in Group B, were humiliated by West Indies yesterday and several former players were quick to pile on the abuse.
Former paceman Shoaib Akhtar called captain Misbah-ul-Haq a ‘coward’, while senior batsman Younis Khan has been told to quit by ex-captain Ramiz Raja.
Pakistan were reduced to an incredible 1-4 in Christchurch – the worst- ever start to an ODI – and were eventually skittled for 160 in pursuit of West Indies’ 310-6.
The defeat, just a few days after the Windies were themselves humbled by Ireland, leaves Pakistan bottom of the group B with two losses out of two.
‘I have not seen a more selfish captain than Misbah – he’s a coward,’ said Akhtar. ‘He is not willing to bat up the order to protect the other players at a time when he needs to show inspiration.’