England 'let people down' at 2023 Cricket World Cup, admits Jos Buttler - 'It hurts a lot'

Jos Buttler conceded England had “let people down” with their performances at the 2023 Cricket World Cup.

England arrived in India as the reigning champions but have now suffered six losses in their seven matches so far, dashing their already remote hopes of progressing to the last four when they suffered a defeat to Australia.

England have already lost to New Zealand, Afghanistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and India to leave them on the cusp of elimination, and they were defeated by a margin of 33 runs by their Ashes foes.

While the bowling team have started to show some threat in their performances, the batting side of things has been consistently poor.

Captain Buttler is one of the batters who is struggling despite having shown few problems in the lead-up to the tournament.

He scored just a single run against Australia, leaving him with an average of 15.14 at the World Cup.

“It’s a low point, it hurts a lot,” he said. “We feel like we’ve let people down and you wear that on your own shoulders. You want to lead from the front as a captain.

“My own form has really hurt us. Obviously, I’ve had a pivotal position in the batting line-up, so to play as poorly as I have done has had a big effect on the team.

“Coming into the tournament I felt in fantastic form, as good as I’ve been in. So, to be sat here having had the tournament I’ve had is incredibly frustrating – but it doesn’t shake your belief.

“I’ve got to make sure I’m the last one that stops believing in myself. You guys (the media) will give up on me a lot earlier than I’ll give up on myself.”

England will aim to secure their spot in the next Champions Trophy, and may not qualify even if they win their last two matches, the Netherlands and Pakistan.

Buttler added: “You know, the Champions Trophy is a tournament we want to be involved in and if we’re going to be involved in it, we need to win some games of cricket.

“We threatened today but it’s still not good enough.”

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