Nerves suffocated England out of WC: Collingwood

Adelaide, March 10 (IANS) Former England captain Paul Collingwood said on Tuesday that lack of confidence in the team suffocated it out of the World Cup following its fourth loss in five Pool A matches.

England lost to Bangladesh by 15 runs at the Adelaide Oval on Monday. Chasing 276 runs, the much-vaunted side was bowled out for 260. They earlier lost to Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

In a column written for the International Cricket Council (ICC) website, Collingwood wrote there were signs of nerves too in the team which made them choke when they were put under pressure.

“You just sensed the nerves in the England team. You play cricket as a living and there are a lot of pressures on your shoulders and you could just see where the confidence levels are," he said.

“That’s the huge difference between all these teams. There’s a lot of skill and talent in that England side, players that can do special things. England got a good team on the park but when confidence isn’t as high as other teams, it suffocates you and England seemed as though they were running out of breath,” wrote Collingwood.

The only England skipper to lift an ICC trophy Collingwood believes the team was clinging on to the hope that some individual performances would carry them through to the quarters.

“England were clinging on in that hope of getting to the quarters and hoping that it would click or an individual or the team would do something special. But if they had beaten Bangladesh it would have been papering over the cracks and hiding where they’re really at,” he said.

The 38-year-old, who is now part of the coaching staff of Scotland, added that he sympathises with both captain Eoin Morgan and coach Peter Moores who have seen their team under-perform through out the quadrennial event.

“You look at someone like Glenn Maxwell (Australia) coming into bat and poor Eoin Morgan who I have a lot of sympathy for, and they’re just miles apart. They’re both world-class players and that confidence and the mental side just seems to be lacking at the moment,” he said.

“I sympathise with Peter Moores as well. I can’t imagine what he must be going through as a coach. It must be tough to see your team perform like that when you know they can play a lot better.”

England play their last pool match against Afghanistan in Sydney on March 13.