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A place in the 2025 Champions Trophy is at stake, with only the top eight qualifying, but that may not matter as much as not succumbing to yet another crushing defeat \u2013 this time against Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had a disastrous World Cup and there\u2019s no point sugarcoating that because it\u2019s the truth,\u201d Stokes said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we know these last three games, for us, we\u2019ve got a lot to play for. I think the biggest thing that we\u2019ve got to play for is obviously the pride of what it is to put the three lines on your chest, walking out onto the field every time is a very special occasion and something that we value very highly.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, yeah, I know there\u2019ll be a lot of noise around England, Australia in the next game, but regardless of who we play against the feeling of putting that shirt on is something that we take very seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n
In order to even compete against Australia, England will have to force a drastic change in fortunes. Buttler\u2019s men crashed to yet another catastrophic defeat against India in the previous game, to lose by 100 runs.<\/p>\n
Questions were raised over the leadership, by both the captain and head coach Matthew Mott, who did not help himself when he openly admitted after the India clash that he had only learned an hour and a half previously what would be required for the Champions Trophy qualification.<\/p>\n
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Jos Buttler and Matthew Mott\u2019s leadership has been questioned as England failed to perform<\/p>\n
Even Stokes did not seem to hold any answers: \u201cTo be honest with you, we\u2019ve been crap.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything we\u2019ve tried throughout this World Cup, through trying to put pressure back onto the opposition in a way in which we know or trying to soak up the pressure in a different way, which we know we\u2019ve done before and been successful with, it\u2019s just not worked.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we knew what had gone wrong, we would have been able to fix it. But unfortunately, we don\u2019t. It\u2019s just been one of those tournaments where, yeah, it\u2019s just been a disaster. And there\u2019s no point sugarcoating it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stokes announced he will undergo surgery following the tournament, to try and solve a left knee issue that has plagued him and England for the last 18 months at least, and forced him to play solely as a batter, which has affected the balance of the side at the Cricket World Cup.<\/p>\n
But none of the fault can rest on any one player, it has been a complete collective failure to perform, and an inability to do so against Australia will see the side truly hit rock bottom.<\/p>\n