Nasser Hussain wants England star dropped after dreadful Afghanistan Cricket World Cup defeat
Cricket World Cup: England were dreadful as they lost to Afghanistan on Sunday
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Nasser Hussain believes England must drop Chris Woakes if they're to reignite their dreams of winning the Cricket World Cup.
It's been a difficult tournament for the defending champions so far, with Sunday's dramatic defeat to Afghanistan one of the biggest shocks in the competition's entire history.
Afghanistan beat England by 69 runs, with Woakes struggling with bat and ball.
He scored just nine runs and didn't take a single wicket, shipping 41 runs from his four overs in the process.
England star Chris Woakes has struggled for form at the Cricket World Cup so far
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And former captain Hussain, writing for the BBC, feels England must drop Woakes in order to turn the situation around.
"It pains me to say it but Chris Woakes has to take some of the blame for his opening spells in all three games," he said.
"He has bowled 11 overs in the powerplay so far and has taken one wicket for 95 runs.
"It has allowed the opposition to get off to flying starts in each match, giving the initiative away from the start.
"Woakes just hasn't got any rhythm.
"The ball isn't coming out right at all, so much so it is hard to tell if he is bowling slower balls or effort balls.
"That can happen.
"When I went through spells where it happened to me I would just go and bowl 20 minutes of bouncers in the nets.
"That helped me get through my action, get my wrist going and some energy into the delivery stride.
"My fear is it will be too late for Woakes because I can't see how England can play him again in this tournament bowling as he is.
"That is shame because he has been a very valuable member of England's team but he is completely off the pace."
Hussain also thinks England's mentality is an issue, too, and they've got complacent due to their triumph four years ago.
"One more loss and it will be curtains," he added.
"The thing for me is there has not been any sort of attitude that you expect from the defending champions like England are.
"The Australia teams of old used to stick their chest out and say 'We're here to win again. You're going to have to beat us'.
"I think back to when I spoke to [Jos] Buttler before the defeat by New Zealand by the boundary edge and he set out his hopes for the tournament.
"He spoke about not wanting the team to think of themselves as defending champions but I wonder whether right now that is exactly what England need."
Jos Buttler, meanwhile, congratulated Afghanistan on their shock win.
And he's admitted his side are failing to perform at their best with an early exit from the tournament looking increasingly likely.
"This is a tough loss to take but congratulations to Afghanistan," he stated.
"They outplayed us today.
"With the bat and ball throughout the game we were not at the level we wanted to be at.
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Former England star Nasser Hussain has criticised their performances at the Cricket World Cup so far
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"We have to be better. You have to find ways to impose yourselves and show your skill. We weren't quite good enough and it was really disappointing.
"You have to let these defeats hurt.
"There is no point trying to move on very quickly although you have to do it as quick as you can
"We will let it hurt and then reflect on the things that need to be better.
"We must show some real resilience. We have character.
"We have been through lots of good times and some tough times as well so we will come back fighting."
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