"Looked like a team that had stood still for a while" - Nasser Hussain on England's dismal 2023 World Cup campaign

Former England skipper Nasser Hussain admitted the side stood still without evolving much following their dismal 2023 World Cup campaign.

Pitted among the heavy favorites to emerge triumphant, the defending champions were shockingly horrendous through the tournament. They finishing seventh on the points table, with three wins from nine games.

For most of the World Cup, England remained at the bottom of the pack before consecutive wins against the Netherlands and Pakistan vaulted them up to seventh.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Hussain felt the performance in this World Cup should not take away from the side's incredible last seven to eight years.

"They looked like a team that had stood still for a while and there'll be reasons for that. Whatever they've done out here, we shouldn't take away from what's happened across the last seven or eight years because we've produced some of the great white ball cricketers," said Hussain

The former captain further stated that the squad picked for the World Cup was spot on despite their failure to replicate the magic from four years ago.

"Don't think I would have picked anyone different from the squad they picked but because of the focus on Test cricket with Rob Key, Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, I think Jos Buttler and Matthew Mott have had to take a backstage look at things," added Hussain.

However, Hussain pointed to the other teams overtaking England thanks to them standing still and resting on their laurels from 2019.

"When you do that and stay still and think that you're fine because you won the tournament the last time, anyone in sport will tell you that the others are improving all the time and they will go past you. And the likes of India, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand have all gone past them," added Hussain.

Apart from suffering defeat, England were also beaten by a sound margin by most of the table-toppers, including India, New Zealand, and South Africa.

With the 2025 Champions Trophy qualification in jeopardy, Jos Buttler's side barely managed to sneak in thanks to wins in their last two matches.

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"Remember that two months ago Rob Key's stock could not be higher in world sport" - Nasser Hussain

Key was instrumental in England's turnaround in Test cricket.

Nasser Hussain dismissed the criticism of the key decision makers - Rob Key, Jos Buttler, and Matthew Mott for England's disappointing 2023 World campaign.

The side emerged victorious in the T20 World Cup a year ago and have witnessed a massive upswing in their red-ball game over the last year.

"With all of the criticism, you have to remember that two months ago Rob Key's stock could not be higher in world sport, with the way he had transformed English cricket and Test match cricket. No one was complaining about the World Cup winning captain and no one was complaining about Mott," said Hussain.

Hussain admitted the poor World Cup will mean that the focus shifts back onto the ODI side.

"They were quite pleased that they'd taken a backwards stage to McCullum and Stokes but obviously now with how poor they've been here, they're under pressure and they have to have a bit of a reset and a rethink and decide which of these players are going to go on the journey with them and which are going to be left behind," added Hussain.

"The interesting calls are the ones who haven't been picked and deciding which of those senior players who have been world class are going to carry on with that journey. And I do think that Mott and Buttler should be the ones in charge of that journey," concluded Hussain.

While the side have continued with the Jos Buttler-Matthew Mott pairing for the upcoming West Indies white-ball series, only six players have been retained from the 2023 World Cup squad.

England will play three ODIs and five T20Is against the West Indies, with the 50-over affair set to begin at Antigua on December 3.