‘Waiting for us to fail’: Bairstow responds to critics

With England’s World Cup chances hanging by a thread, opener Jonny Bairstow says sections of the public and media have been “waiting for us to fail”.

England’s defeat to Australia on Tuesday, their second loss in five days and third of this World Cup, means the host nation are now in serious danger of missing out on the semi-finals of a tournament many expected them to dominate.

The recriminations from the loss to Australia at Lord’s have been widespread in the local press, while former captains Kevin Pietersen and Michael Vaughan have been vocal in their assessment of the English side.

“This is looking like turmoil for England,” Vaughan told BBC Radio this week. “I’ve been involved in a couple of atrocious World Cups. If they’re not careful, this could turn out to be top of the tree.”

In response, Bairstow said Vaughan’s remarks were indicative of the general response to England’s predicament, which comes after they had dominated the one-day game for the better part of the past four years.

“I was on the radio this morning; I was surprised with a clip of Vaughan’s comments at 8.30am. Bloody hell. That’s pretty rich,” Bairstow said.

“People now are paid to have an opinion, so they’ve got to have an opinion. Because we’ve done so well, any opportunity for someone to see we’ve lost two games, they were always going to jump on it.

“People were waiting for us to fail. They are not willing us on to win, in many ways they are waiting for you to get that loss, so they can jump on your throat.

“It’s a typical English thing to do, in every sport.”

Bairstow also revealed he was sledged by a cab driver in London after the Australian defeat.

“I chuckled,” he said. “Of course people are going to say things. Of course they are. Everyone’s saying like (it’s) as if we’re eighth or ninth in the table.

“Bloody Nora - chill out guys. You’re panicking.”

Pietersen’s criticism after the Lord’s match centred on the batting of skipper Eoin Morgan, who he said looked “scared” and backed away from his stumps when facing pace spearhead Mitchell Starc.

Morgan gave short shrift to Pietersen’s thoughts when asked about in in his post-match press conference, and Bairstow said the playing group won’t let the criticism impact the mood inside the camp.

"The comments and things like that, you can give it too much air time and then all of a sudden, before you know it, it's a big thing and it's actually really not," Bairstow said.

"We've not let that in. Because the way we go about it and the way we play, it doesn't make a difference what's been said here, what's been said there.

"We've done it for such a long period of time and this group has been together for near-on three years now, if not longer. So just because we've lost two games – yes, it's in a crunch tournament - and people start talking, it's not going to change the way we go about it.

“We just have to be relaxed. The more you tense up, then the more you're going to go into your shell and therefore not play how you've been playing."

England now face a blockbuster showdown against India at Edgbaston on Sunday and even if they win that game, they may still need to beat New Zealand next week to guarantee their spot in the semi-finals.

Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka also remain in the race for a top-four finish.

For a full list of all World Cup fixtures, click HERE