Mark Butcher has questioned whether England have enough experience in 50-over cricket to compete in the upcoming Champions Trophy after the extent of their challenges was laid bare by a 3-0 thrashing in India.
Speaking on the Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast as England were turned over in the third ODI in Ahmedabad, Butcher drew attention to the lack of 50-over matches England's players have under their belt.
"The first thing that sprung to my mind during the first two ODIs was just how naive most of our cricket is in the 50-over format," said Butcher. "I thought 'why might that be?'. It's because we don't play any. There is a world of difference in terms of the tempo that the game needs to continuously be played at. I don't mean that the tempo is a rigid graph that only goes up, the tempo needs to fluctuate in 50-over cricket in a way that it doesn't need to in 20-over cricket. Having that skill and nous and game awareness to know when to put the foot down and when to ease off a little but, when to sit in and when to go hard, is something that only comes with playing lots of it.
"I remember back in the 90s when England would play three Texaco Trophy matches during the course of the summer, the sum total of England's 50-over cricket would be three to six matches per summer. They'd be playing against Indian sides, or West Indian sides or Australian sides, the difference in number of caps between them and our players was three times more on the other team. We're kind of back in that situation now whereby the India players will out number the number of caps of even someone like Jos Buttler for example, by at least two to one or three to one. "
Champions Trophy 2025: What is England's squad?
England had several younger faces in their squad in India, including Jacob Bethell, who had played just 16 List A games before his ODI debut last summer. Gus Atkinson, who made his ODI debut in 2023 after playing just two prior List A matches, had a chastening tour in India, where he conceded 139 runs across the two ODIs he played. Following an injury to Bethell, England called Tom Banton into their XI for the first time since 2020. Banton has not played any 50-over cricket in the intervening four and a half years.
"A lot of our guys will be a lot better for the run. Gus Atkinson has had a pretty chastening trip and that's not a bad thing. He's basically found the game far too easy up to this point and has run into the first road block. Being a very talented boy and somebody who has the hunger and desire to be the very best, he will be better for the experience of a flogging in India. But if you're talking about winning a Champions Trophy in a couple of weeks time, it's not likely is it? That our team and the make-up of it and the experience of it is going to have the skill and the nous and the know-how to win what is a very difficult form of cricket, 50-over cricket. It requires more than just putting your foot to the floor and keeping it there."
In comparison to England's younger players, India's equivalents in this series are vastly more experienced in the List A format. Shubman Gill, who at age 25 already has 50 ODIs under his belt, has played well over 100 matches of List A cricket. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who made his ODI debut in the second match of the series in Cuttack, has played 30 50-over matches in his still very early professional career.
England will begin their Champions Trophy campaign on February 22 in Lahore, where they will face Australia before also playing Afghanistan and South Africa in the group stage of the competition.
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