'Don't Rely on Stats': Michael Hussain Advises England to Ditch 'Default Settings'

England’s title defense hasn’t started on expected lines with the 2019 champions crashing to third defeat in four matches in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup in India. The Jos Buttler-led side finds itself on the 9th place on the points table after a crushing defeat to South Africa on Saturday.

In hot and humid conditions in Mumbai, England opted to bowl first, and South Africa racked up 399/7 in 50 overs with Heinrich Klaasen hitting a blistering ton.

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has criticised the team for disturbing their balance and relying too much on stats.

“England keep getting their decisions wrong. We got the toss and the balance of the side was wrong. The three changes in the squad moved England completely away from how they have been playing for years,” Hussain said on Sky Sports.

In reply, England folded for 170 in 22 overs.

England benched Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran and Chris Woakes for the South Africa match and brought in Ben Stokes, David Willey and Gus Atkinson.

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“Woakes had had no rhythm and on a flat pitch you leave him out and bring Stokes in, I agree with that decision. What I don’t like is the toss decision and reliance on stats,” Hussain said.

“England need to get the decisions they’re making off the field right. The quality of performance was not good enough, but get your decision making right off the field. I hear a lot about statistics, and Eoin Morgan used statistics, but there was a lot of gut feeling there too. You need to get your decisions right, don’t just go to your default settings,” he added.

Hussain said England don’t look like a side capable of winning seven games in a row to win the title now.

“England now need to win seven games on the bounce to defend the World Cup, but they don’t look like a side that could do that at the moment. If they want to win every game from now, they need to get their decision-making right,” he said.

“England look like a side that has no confidence. These three losses will hurt them. It happened in the last World Cup, but you felt it was a side that had confidence and they were playing a style and brand of cricket where they could bounce back,” he added.