World Cup: ‘We’ve been crap…’: Ben Stokes on England’s World Cup campaign | Cricket News

NEW DELHI: England’s star all-rounder, Ben Stokes, candidly admitted to the disastrous nature of their World Cup campaign. The defending champions have faced a series of setbacks, losing five out of six matches and currently occupying the bottom spot in the 10-team World Cup table. Their remaining hope hinges on a match against arch-rivals Australia in Ahmedabad, although another defeat will extinguish their slim chances of reaching the semi-finals.
In a straightforward assessment, Stokes stated, “I think the problem is that we’ve been crap. To be honest with you, we’ve been crap.” He acknowledged that the strategies and approaches they attempted during the tournament have not yielded results.

Stokes elaborated on the team’s struggles, saying, “Everything we’ve tried throughout this World Cup, through trying to put pressure back onto the opposition in a way in which we know, or trying to soak up the pressure in a different way, which we know we’ve done before and been successful with, it’s just not worked.”

The cricketer further emphasised the challenges they have faced in the tournament, revealing that they were unable to put together a complete game when opportunities presented themselves. England’s prospects of advancing to the semi-finals appear increasingly bleak.
Despite the grim outlook, Stokes and his teammates are looking forward to their match against five-time World Cup champions Australia, a contest that follows a contentious Ashes series which ended 2-2.
“England-Australia in any sport, whenever the two nations play against each other, it’s always a big occasion,” said Stokes.
With upcoming fixtures against Australia, the Netherlands, and Pakistan, England acknowledge that their World Cup campaign has been far from successful. Nevertheless, they are determined to play for pride and uphold the honour of representing their nation.
Stokes articulated their approach for the remaining matches, stating, “We’ve had a disastrous World Cup, and there’s no point sugarcoating that because it’s the truth. But we know these last three games, for us, we’ve got a lot to play for. I think the biggest thing that we’ve got to play for is obviously the pride of what it is to put the three lions on your chest, walking out onto the field every time is a very special occasion and something that we value very highly.”
(With inputs from AFP)