IND vs ENG, 2nd ODI: Steve Harminson slams England for skipping training session before Cuttack ODI | Cricket News

Former England cricketer Steve Harminson made a scathing attack on England cricket team for not skipping practice session ahead of their must-win game against India in Cuttack on Sunday. While India had a long training session, the Jos Buttler-led side opted not to train. England have lost the T20I series 4-1 and were handed a four-wicket loss in the first one-day international in Nagpur. “Yes, I must admit, I was surprised when we heard that England were going to have not so much a day off,” Harminson said on TalkSport Cricket.
“Sometimes it can be counterproductive when you keep getting beat or things aren’t going as well as you’d want. Sometimes it is a good thing to get away from it, but like I’ve said in previous podcasts, how England have lost, I struggle to understand, especially with the Champions Trophy coming up, that you just have a complete day off.
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A compulsory one, England don’t do compulsory practises under Brendon McCullum. It’s them that want to work on their game, they go and work on their game. And I mean, what have we had? The series so far, we’ve had five T20s and an ODI. It’s had 340 overs, combined overs, and I mean, that’s probably a full test match, three and three quarter of a day of a Test match.
India vs England Playing 11: England’s captain Jos Buttler, left, and India’s captain Rohit Sharma greet each other at the end of the first one day international cricket. (AP)
“In three and three quarter days. So, I mean, it’s not that being demanding on the body point of I think it’s been demanding technically, I think it’s been demanding mentally for some of them. And I think, well, hey, I’m not going to sit here and say you should be going practising, you should be doing this, you should be doing that.”
Steve Harminson also said there is something not quite right and clicking with this England team.
“Where England are with a week or two weeks to go before a Champions Trophy, number 11’s has batted six times in six white ball games, five of them in T20s. Something’s not right. Something needs addressing and people lying in their rooms, playing on a golf course, sitting playing on a PlayStation, possibly lying a pool.Story continues below this ad
“Is that going to solve it? Hey, I’m just questioning what a lot of people will be questioning, that there’s something not quite right and clicking with this team because they’re playing against one of the best teams in the world in their own back garden. You could argue it was their B-side in the T20s, it’s their A-side in the 50 overs. And look, like they did before, they might come back and ram this straight down my throat and win here.
“And if they do, I will praise them to the hilt. Good on them. Go for it.
“But I’m very, very, I was a little bit surprised to hear that not one person trained, especially with a 15, 16-man squad and you’re getting beat affectionately 6-0 so far. Sorry, 5-1 in a six-match series so far. I was a little surprised.”