Aussie coach caught in ugly fallout as England hit new low at Cricket World Cup

Matthew Mott has rubbished the suggestions from England's former captain Eoin Morgan that the side is "unsettled" behind the scenes and that has contributed to England's dismal World Cup campaign. Australia's Mott worked with Morgan when he took the reins of the one-day side 18 months ago.

Morgan retired shortly after and has some theories as to why the team have failed to replicate their 2019 World Cup triumph. Speaking on Sky Sports after England's 100-run defeat to India, Morgan said the side were "definitely unsettled".

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“I’ve never come across a sports team that has underperformed like this, given the level of expectation. There’s something within the team that is definitely unsettled.... I think there’s something else going on – there has to be," he said.

Upon learning of Morgan's comments, Mott dismissed the claims and said he would take up the Irishman's concerns with him one-on-one. "Eoin's entitled to his opinion. He's obviously been away (from India) for a couple of weeks with the birth of his child and he hasn't been in and around the rooms," Mott said.

"But I'll certainly take that up with him and have a chat to him. We've got a really good relationship with him so if he's seeing something I'm not I'll definitely have that conversation. I don't think that (is the case) at all. Anyone inside our tent at the moment would say, despite our results, we're an incredibly tight-knit unit. I can only say, from my opinion, that the group has been incredibly strong."

England's Chris Woakes has also spoken out about England's unity, insisting the team is working together to turn things around. "I can firmly say there is nothing wrong with the dressing room," Woakes said.

England's position at next one-day tournament in jeopardy

England's horror World Cup campaign could also cost their place at the Champions trophy. The competition is the next major international 50-over tournament and will begin in 2025.

Places in the competition will be based on performances in the World Cup, with hosts Pakistan being joined by the seven highest finishers. With three games to play England sits 10th, behind the Netherlands and Bangladesh.

Mott admitted he was not aware the qualification process was no longer based on world rankings, a decision only made public during England's game against India. “Well, the ICC (International Cricket Council) do change the rules quite a bit with qualification and to be honest I don’t think it would affect in any way the way we’ve played in this tournament so it’s not a big deal,” Mott said.

The ICC changed the qualifying rules for the tournament in March 2021 but did not publicise this decision until recently. The tournament was last played in England in 2017. England will likely need to win two of their final three games to qualify, however, their abysmal net run rate could ultimately cost them a spot in the tournament even if they do register two wins.

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