England all-rounder Chris Jordan said the anger the team feels at their early World Cup exit will fuel the side in their final pool match against Afghanistan in Sydney on Friday.
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Monday’s 15-run loss to Bangladesh in Adelaide meant England were no longer able to qualify for the quarter-finals.
It also meant that, for the first time in the tournament’s 40-year history, England had failed to beat a single Test nation with their lone win of the tournament so far coming against Scotland.
Now Afghanistan, like the Scots a non-Test nation, wait for a match where the best England can hope for is to avoid further embarrassment.
Jordan, brought into the team for the Bangladesh match after sitting out the rest of the tournament, insisted the fact England knew they were going home soon would have no bearing on Friday’s Pool A fixture.
“Every game you play for England should be competitive and you should be up for it,” he said yesterday.
“It’s another opportunity for guys to impress and every time you step on the field you are looking to make an impact.
“We’ll be treating this game as we would any other. We want to win it.”
Asked about the mood in England’s dressing room after the Bangladesh match, Jordan – who took two for 59 and was run out for a duck – replied: “There’s probably a bit of anger inside some people, probably thinking about every single moment in the game that could have affected it, could they have done something different, that’s only natural.
“There wasn’t really much to say. Everyone was hurting, everyone was gutted and a time for each person individually to reflect on the game itself and how they want to rectify it in the future.
“That can only get us up for Friday and hopefully we can put in a good performance then,” the Barbados-born Jordan added.
In the aftermath of England’s exit, attention has focused on the under-fire pair of coach Peter Moores and skipper Eoin Morgan.
But Jordan said the players were to blame for England’s plight.
“Pete and Morgy have, effectively, had a great partnership thus far. They’ve prepared everyone as best as they possibly can and then simply we didn’t perform as well as we have done. That’s gutting.
“It’s so hard to put a finger on exactly what it is. I thought we prepared as best as we possibly could both mentally, physically and technically, coming into the
World Cup.
“In the tri-series (in Australia before the World Cup) we beat a team that’s flying high at the top of their table in India and we came in with real good confidence and real high hopes.”
England have been accused of playing ‘fearful’ cricket but Jordan said: “I don’t detect that at all.
“All the signs were there for us to express ourselves and do as best as we possibly could. It just didn’t happen.”
This World Cup has seen England on the end of thrashing by Australia (111 runs), New Zealand (eight wickets) and Sri Lanka (nine wickets).
