It's not panic stations yet: Matthew Mott backs England to turnaround World Cup campaign

MUMBAI: England white-ball head coach Matthew Mott confessed that his team 'didn't fire a shot' in Sunday's shocking 69-run defeat against Afghanistan and that they needed to re-establish confidence to make a comeback in their ICC World Cup campaign.

After two defeats in their opening three matches, the defending champions will look to turn around their World Cup campaign when they face South Africa at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.

England were stunned by Afghanistan in Delhi on Sunday - the second defeat in their opening three games.

"I thought the boys were really up for it, but we didn't really fire a shot from the start. The facts were, we were just a bit off in every aspect of the game. It's not panic stations yet, but it's nowhere near the start that we were hoping for and the time is now to really turn that around," Mott was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

In his own attempt to analyse England's shortcomings, Mott suggested that the defending champions were lacking in self-belief.

"You don't lose your ability overnight but you can lose your confidence. It's that confidence... puff your chest out, go out there and really take the game on, which this team has been renowned for over a long period of time," he said.

Since winning the World Cup in 2019, England's attention have shifted to Tests and Twenty20 Internationals, with Mott admitting that some of his players are "really struggling for that rhythm of 50-over cricket" as a result.

"Players love playing World Cups. Make no mistake: this is massive for every player in our group. If anything, we've probably just tried a bit too hard, because it's such a big lure for all these guys. It's what they play the game for in white-ball cricket; the one-day World Cup doesn't come around that often. It's very special," Mott said.

The imminent comeback of Ben Stokes at the Cricket World Cup will present England head coach Matthew Mott with a big selection dilemma.

"We'll always make to look subtle changes, but I can guarantee you now there won't be any wholesale changes with the team. I'm not going to throw the baby out with the bathwater after a couple of bad performances," he added. He also defended pacer Chris Woakes, who has a tournament total of 2 for 135 from 18 overs.

"I'm not sure you quite understand how tough it is, particularly bowling in the Powerplay. You're going to have bad games," he said.

"There is always pressure in international cricket. There's nowhere to hide. If you have a bad performance, everybody knows about it. But the key for us is he's in a great headspace, he puts himself up for selection and he can come back really well. If that happens, we're doing our job - but he's also a great problem-solver himself," the England coach added.