ICC World Cup 2019 | England Are Finding Out the Difference Between Bilateral Series & Tournaments: Hussain

Former England skipper Nasser Hussain said the Eoin Morgan-led side are now starting to realize the difference between bilateral series and marquee events such as 2019 World Cup after their consecutive defeats at the hands of Sri Lanka and Australia respectively.

England suffered their third defeat of the tournament against Australia at Lord's on Tuesday (June 26). With just two more games remaining, that too against in-form India and New Zealand, England are still unsure about their chances of making it to the semifinals.

"England are also finding out the difference between bi-lateral series and tournament play," wrote Hussain in his column for Daily Mail.

"You face different sides with different strengths, going from the spin and unorthodox action of Lasith Malinga against Sri Lanka to the pace and swing of Australia in successive matches. And they haven't coped with either."

Hussain also criticized Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer and Mark Wood for the way they went about their business on a surface that was providing enough movement to the fast bowlers. The trio kept bowling short and allowed Aaron Finch and David Warner to settle in at the start. The two went on to add 123 runs for the first wicket and from there on, England were forced to play the catching game.

While Morgan said England bowlers were slightly unlucky, Hussain said that they should have bowled stump-to-stump line, something which Jason Behrendorff and Mitchell Starc did with great success.

"Yes, England went past the edge a few times after winning the toss in perfect bowling conditions but the reason for that was they were bowling short of a good length. How many of those balls would have hit the stumps? Not nearly enough.

"England are not out of the World Cup yet but this leaves them very vulnerable.

"It was left to Australia in the form of the left-armers Starc and Behrendorff to show England how it should be done - pitch it up on a full length and get the batsmen coming forward to bring caught, bowled and lbw all into play."

The 51-year-old said it was Australian pacers who adjusted to the conditions better than England's fast bowling unit.

"Australia adjusted to conditions while England could not. They went with Behrendorff ahead of Nathan Coulter-Nile and then handed him the new ball over Pat Cummins. They knew they needed someone to swing it into England's pads and Behrendorff obliged.

"England, meanwhile, have gone with pace and hit the deck bowlers in this tournament and left out someone who pitches it up and tries to swing it in David Willey but you can't tell me the likes of Chris Woakes, Mark Wood and Jofra Archer cannot adjust.

Now if Pakistan manages to beat New Zealand on Wednesday, they will then fancy their chances against Afghanistan and Bangladesh. If everything goes according to Pakistan's plan, England will have to beat India and New Zealand to qualify for the semifinals.

"We are talking about a clash against an India side at Edgbaston on Sunday on what is likely to be a turning pitch with the weather becoming hot. India are not invincible and are weaker for the loss of Shikhar Dhawan but that is still a very difficult task for England.

"As England captain, Morgan will have to tell his side that they are not out of this yet. He cannot change his ways and over-react to a defeat. But he will know this is a bad time to lose successive home games for the first time in four years."