England captain Jos Buttler to bat larger and Jofra Archer issues after opening Champions Trophy defeat to Australia?

England go into their ICC Champions Trophy recreation towards Afghanistan on Wednesday on the precipice of an early elimination, have been they to comply with up their opening loss to Australia with one other defeat.

Stay ICC Champions Trophy Cricket

Wednesday twenty sixth February 8:30am

Regardless of an encouraging England batting show – by which Ben Duckett struck 165 – Australia chased down an ICC tournament-record 352 to win on Saturday, with Josh Inglis ending on 120 not out.

England’s bowling assault struggled, with Brydon Carse’s seven overs costing 69 runs as he struggled with the reoccurrence of a toe damage that has since dominated him out of the remainder of the competitors, whereas Archer (1-82) had quite a few spells off the sector with cramp earlier than bowling an costly closing 5 overs.

Archer, a star performer in England’s 2019 50-over World Cup win, has spent a lot of the following six years on the sidelines as a consequence of a persistent elbow damage and a stress fracture to his again suffered in 2022.

“I was also a bit worried looking at Jofra when he came back on,” Michael Atherton mentioned on the most recent Sky Sports activities Cricket Podcast.

“You’ve got bought a man who has had quite a lot of time away from cricket, so it’s important to give him time to seek out his greatest kind once more, however Simon Doull did a bit of study on the tele on variations between his motion in 2019 and now.

“Jofra pre-injury had a excessive arm and that snap of the wrist [through his bowling action], and it did not fairly appear to be that to me.

“He got punished – 49 runs from his final five overs – at a crucial moment, when Jos Buttler threw him the ball in the hope of closing the game out.”

Ought to Buttler be batting larger up the order?

Fellow former England captain, Nasser Hussain, added on the podcast that he’d prefer to see a promotion again up the order for Buttler towards Afghanistan.

Buttler got here in at No 6 towards Australia, within the thirty fifth over, and scored 23 off 21 balls, with Jamie Smith having been pushed as much as No 3.

“I would have him up the order,” Hussain mentioned. “If he gets in – at three, or four – Buttler, at his best, could go on and get 150.

“He might play the form of innings that Inglis did as a result of he is so proficient.

“If, on a pitch like that [in Lahore], England’s best white-ball player of all time is sitting and watching nearly 40 overs of cricket from the pavilion, as an opposition captain I’m enjoying that.

“And for Jos as skipper, this can be a defining match. If they do not qualify via the group stage right here, he might effectively lose his job.

“For that reason, if I’m Jos I’m thinking, ‘my job is hanging on the line here, I need to have a massive impact on this game, on this tournament right now’.

“England see it in another way; they see him as their finisher.”

What’s next?

In Group B, England are next in action on Wednesday when they face Afghanistan, also in Lahore – live on Sky Sports Cricket from 8.30am, ahead of play starting at 9am UK time.

Australia face South Africa in Rawalpindi a day earlier on Tuesday – at the same time, live on Sky Sports Cricket.

ICC Champions Trophy 2025 – results and fixtures 🏏

Group A

Group B

Semi-finals

• March 4: Semi-final – A1 v B2 (Dubai)
• March 5: Semi-final 2 – A2 v B1 (Lahore)

Final

• March 9: Final (Lahore or Dubai)

Watch every match from the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, up to and including the final on March 9, live on Sky Sports, or stream with NOW.