Adelaide: Sarcasm and shock were the overwhelming themes as the cricket fraternity reacted after England’s embarrassingly early exit from the ongoing ICC World Cup, the death knell being sounded in the form of a 15-run defeat to Bangladesh here on Monday.
Bangladesh knocked out England from the mega event to set up a likely clash with defending champions India in the quarter finals.
“Well done Bangladesh! England pathetic! When are we going to pick the selectors to pick a team for the one-day format? Time for change,” tweeted former England all-rounder Ian Botham.
Australian spin legend Shane Warne wrote on his twitter handle: “Eng had the wrong team, the wrong style of play & everyone could see it tonight’s result not a shock, I feel for Morgan, coach is in trouble.”
Maverick English batsman Kevin Pietersen too criticised the team.
He tweeted, “DO NOT SAY WE HAVENT PRIORITISED ODI CRICKET! We played a back-to-back Ashes to make sure England played 6 months of ODI’s before this WC!”
“I CANNOT BELIVE THIS! I JUST CANNOT! But, well done Bangladesh! You deserved it! #ENGvBAN.”
Even the cricket associations of Japan and Malaysia, who are far from being considered as strong cricketing nations, reacted to the English defeat sarcastically.
“Dear @ECB_cricket, this might not be a great time, but as there’s room in your schedule, fancy a game in Japan on the way home? #challenge,” the Japan Cricket Association said.
The Malaysian Cricket Association wrote: “When can we play @ECB_cricket? (PTI)
