While the whole cricketing fraternity is rightly pinpointing the evident flaws of the Three Lions, England cricket teams, former English cricketer and commentator Alex Hartley has voiced her opinion and slammed both the England men’s and women’s teams for their dreadful performances in recent international cricket. Frustrated by their repeated failures, Hartley expressed disbelief at the teams’ inability to perform, calling their approach “arrogant” and unacceptable.
Hartley believes that English cricket, currently, is in a ‘sad place’ following the men’s Team early exit from the Champions Trophy.
“I think the frustrating thing for me when I watch English cricket at the minute, in both teams, is the arrogance of the players and of the staff and the messaging that we want to entertain, we don’t care about results,” Hartley said on BBC TMS.
“But you have to win for people to be entertained because the public, for some reason, has fallen out of love with English cricket. It’s a really sad place for England men and England women to be in.”
Hartley is of the opinion that England’s struggles on the deck and turf have led to a disconnect between the teams and their biggest stakeholders, the fans, with the public seemingly having started to lose interest in following the game.
In her perspective, entertainment isn’t the sole reason —winning is crucial to keeping supporters engaged. She finds it disheartening to see both the men’s and women’s teams in such a disappointing state, where their performances are doing nothing to reignite passion among fans.
Alex Hartley’s scorching comments come in the wake of England women’s humiliating 16-0 defeat to Australia in the multi-format Ashes, a result that has tremendous questions about the team’s present and future.
Hartley found herself embroiled in controversy during that series after revealing that Sophie Ecclestone had declined to give her an interview. According to Hartley, this was due to remarks she had made during the Women’s T20 World Cup the previous year in October.
Following England’s early exit from the tournament, Hartley had been critical of certain players, stating that some individuals were not meeting the team’s expectations. She also suggested that serious questions needed to be raised regarding the squad’s overall performance, particularly in terms of fitness levels.
During that time, on BBC’s TMS podcast, Hartley gave a thorough explanation that her remarks never aimed at creating altercations but rather to initiate progress. As a broadcaster, she noted that the main aim was on motivating the team to elevate their game and perform better in key international tournaments.
After the horrendous performance by England Women in the Ashes series, Hartley expressed her anger at the team’s unaccountability.
“I’ve been hung out to dry by the England team – none of them will talk to me on the boundary edge. Not all of them have given me the cold shoulder. I don’t want to say that they’ve all been the same, because they haven’t.
“Some of the players have been absolutely outstanding. I’ve spoken to them in the street, at the ground, wherever. But a few individuals literally haven’t looked at me.”
“To be clear, there are some members of the England team who have been really disappointing, but by no means all,” she said via X. “For some, friendships remain unchanged. For others, I’ve been shocked and surprised by their response.”
Being beaten by the best in the business during the Ashes series was not an aberration, but to hide their evident flaws was no less than a sin. Heather Knight said that “we’re really close” during a time when her team was blanked with the bat and ball in two formats. England had fallen well short of their standards and the problematic tactical areas needed to be addressed. But Knight came up with a bland excuse after each defeat, which eventually were baseless.
Quick and immediate redressal should be the top priority for the English team to get their cricketing fortunes back on track, not just for the men’s team but also for the women’s.
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