'What is he on about?' - Adam Gilchrist takes a jibe at Nasser Hussain for reasoning workload issues factoring England's World Cup debacle

England's disappointing exit from the ICC World Cup 2023 saw them struggle to secure a top-five spot, hovering at the tournament's bottom. Doubts loomed over their entry into the Champions Trophy 2025. Despite rallying with two victories, concerns persisted. Cricket legends Adam Gilchrist and Wasim Akram criticised Nasser Hussain's defence of England's poor show. However, England's late wins secured their berth in the Champions Trophy 2025.

Nasser Hussain attributed England's poor World Cup 2023 display to mental fatigue from the preceding Ashes series and the tournament's ill-timed scheduling. Adam Gilchrist dismissed this explanation, igniting a panel debate on England's insufficient pre-tournament readiness. The clash of opinions among the pundits centred on whether England's preparation was inadequate for the World Cup campaign. “Come off it, Please. What is he on about?” said Gilchrist on Club Prairie Fire podcast.

“Everyone thought England are one of the favourites. Your top players on a serious note hardly played any One-day cricket in the last one year. Because I have been doing stats for the past 30 days and I know the stats. The most number of ODIs played by a player in last year was Jason Roy, he played 30 plus ODIs and they didn’t pick him. And players who hardly played any ODIs including their skipper and main batters were in the squad. The ashes court and all was nice excuses boys,” Akram said.

Also Check: ODI World Cup 2023 Points Table

Defending Champions only had their reputation to defend 

It was an unforeseen turn. Even the few pundits who foresaw England's semi-final absence couldn't envision the depth of their downfall: a once-strong team now vying for seventh place alongside Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Netherlands. The scramble to evade further embarrassment highlighted the unexpected twist in their tournament journey.

England's pre-tournament problem and subsequent stumbles in India became glaring with each defeat. This led to a stark absence of the ingrained confidence pivotal to their victories. It seemed their players were trapped in a collective state of inertia, incapable of confronting the unfolding tournament nightmare.