World Cup 2023: Batters need to consistently read the situation better, says Trescothick ahead of India vs England clash

England assistant coach Marcus Trescothick believes England batters have not been reading match situations consistently, and that is and that is hurting the team’s momentum, Trescothick said on Saturday. World Cup 2023: News | Schedule | Results | Points table England are on the verge of elimination from the 2023 ODI World Cup after winning just one of their five league matches so far. Jos Buttler and Co are currently languishing in ninth place with just two points. Just days after an eight-wicket loss to Sri Lanka, England next take on hosts India in Lucknow on Sunday.

“We have an attitude to how we’ve gone about batting in the last however many years since our white-ball cricket has changed and evolved. And it’s always trying to be positive,”  Trescothick said during a pre-match press conference on Saturday. “We’re always looking to put pressure back on oppositions, bowlers, as much as we can while reading the situation and be smart in those situations. And we’ve done it occasionally. We’ve done it now and again. “We just haven’t done it consistently with enough people really reading the situation, taking the right options, and then putting it all together to get that score,” the former opener added. Against Sri Lanka, England collapsed to 156 in 33.2 overs, with most of the batters failing to step up. Jonny Bairstow (30) and Dawid Malan (28) got off to starts, but failed to convert them into big knocks. Even Ben Stokes’ knock of 43 was slow-paced, off 73 balls, as he lacked the support of an able partner barring Moeen Ali, with whom the duo forged 37 runs. Trescothick feels England haven’t been at their best recently. “Confidence, rhythm, whatever you want to call it. The form of the team hasn’t been as good as what we normally have. Normally there’s always one, maybe two people in that team who are going to get a hundred-plus or a big score that’s going to make a big difference,” added the 47-year-old. England’s batters have failed to make most of their opportunity despite a majority of them having played IPL in India. “We’ve gained massive amounts of more experience in India because of the guys playing the volume of cricket they have done. I think you’re always learning; you’re always playing in different situations. “That’s (playing on slower wickets) always a challenge for us. Every game that we want to play we want to play on the best wicket possible. If it’s not and it turns, then we’re okay with that and we’ve been good enough and we’ve been very smart at that in the last few years,” continued Trescothick. Trescothick said that he has not lost faith in the team despite a below-par performance. “Forgive me if I don’t want to be blunt here, but we haven’t lost faith in what it is. I can’t really say too much more. We love playing any form of cricket, any form of the game that we play. “And we were desperate to come here and try and win back-to-back 50-over competitions. So, we’re still very much focused on all formats of the game,” added the former Somerset cricketer. India are unbeaten in the World Cup so far, having beaten the likes of Australia, Pakistan and New Zealand. Trescothick said England taking on India in India will be a “wonderful occasion”. “Playing against India in a World Cup in their own country is that’s a special part of the game you know you get these opportunities that come around — you know there’ll be a big crowd, there’ll be a wonderful occasion. “We’re looking forward to that chance. There’s nothing more that we can offer apart from going out and playing that performance. And then hopefully you come out on top at the end of it,” said Trescothick.