England have not deteriorated as a team overnight, and their players maintain confidence in their ability to secure victory in the World Cup, despite initial losses to New Zealand and Afghanistan. This was the statement conveyed on Wednesday by Jonny Bairstow, who also resisted criticism of the squad's concentration.
Securing just two points from their initial three matches, England will most likely have to secure victory in five of their forthcoming six group-stage matches to secure a spot in the semi-finals. They are scheduled to face South Africa at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday evening, offering them an opportunity to rebound from a surprising 69-run loss to Afghanistan in Delhi.
Bairstow said the squad retains the belief that they can put a run of victories together. "There's a reason why the guys won the T20 World Cup last year; there's a reason why the guys won the 2019 World Cup, and we're the defending champions," he said. "Just because we've lost a game to Afghanistan doesn't make us bad cricketers or anything like that.
"You look at [Fazalhaq] Farooqi, his record in the IPL; you look at the three spinners that they've got and their records. Just because they play for Afghanistan, they're no slouches. They've actually got some of the world's best in there and they've got match-winners. We lost that game, we didn't play well enough, and we've accepted that and moved on from that."
Bairstow was inquired if England's batting lineup is still capable of asserting dominance over opposing teams in the manner they have over the past eight years
"I don't really think much has really changed, has it? You look at the strength in depth that we have with our batting line-up… I don't think the firepower can be questioned.
Jonny Bairstow said one defeat doesn't mean England are a bad team.
"We're just focusing on ourselves. That's what we do. We'll go out and play the way that we're looking to play, put pressure on the opposition like we said that we'd try and do. People are allowed to bowl or bat well. But if our mindset is right and if the way in which we approach the game is right, then that's the bit that we can control."
England players have faced substantial criticism in various broadcast and print media outlets following their Sunday defeat, a critique largely disregarded by the squad. However, they did express disagreement with a particular report that centred on the players' utilization of their leisure time, recommending that they ought to reduce their time on the golf course and devote more hours to cricket practice.
"The group remains calm within it," Bairstow said. "Belief and confidence isn't something that's been questioned one bit. That's something that you're able to call upon when you do lose a game. We lost to Sri Lanka in 2019. We lost to Pakistan in 2019. We still went through it. There were similar things that I'm sure you guys [the press] wrote in 2019 at the home World Cup.
"But that's OK. That's what you've got to do. You've got to write certain things about certain members and what people do and don't do in their downtime. That's things that you'll fill in the [column] inches and you're doing that. Whether it's true, whether it's incorrect, whatever it is - that's up to you to do that, isn't it?
"The confidence is there. It's unwavering. There's no lack of belief within this group."
Responding to a question about whether criticism would bring the squad closer together, Bairstow said: "Not really, no. I don't read it [but] I got told about some of the stuff that you put, so we'll leave it at that."
South Africa, England's opponent for Saturday's match, commenced the World Cup with impressive victories against Sri Lanka and Australia. However, they suffered a defeat at the hands of the Netherlands on Tuesday night, a result which Bairstow referred to as "a fantastic outcome to wake up to." He holds the belief that South Africa possesses "a high-quality bowling attack" and also pointed out Quinton de Kock and Heinrich Klaasen as two "outstanding" batters.
- Jonny Bairstow
