Matthew Mott Takes Sly Dig At ICC Over Champions Trophy Qualification Process As England's Spot Hangs In Balance

With England‘s qualification for the 2025 Champions Trophy in jeopardy due to their disastrous performance in the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, their head coach Matthew Mott could not stop himself from taking a sly dig at the International Cricket Council.

England’s campaign in the ongoing World Cup went from bad to worse on Sunday (October 29) as hosts India inflicted a humiliating 100-run defeat on them. The defeat has left them reeling at the bottom of the points table with just 1 win from 6 games. Along with Bangladesh, England are the only other team with one win in the competition so far.

The reigning world champions are not only looking set to be knocked out of the World Cup but are also in danger of missing out on a spot for the Champions Trophy. The ICC has announced that the spots for the next Champions Trophy will be allocated based on performances in the World Cup. Hosts Pakistan will be joined by the seven highest finishers in the league stage.

Matthew Mott not impressed with qualification process:

With only three games to go, England are still languishing at the tenth spot in the points table with just 1 win from 6 games. On Sunday, they suffered their fifth defeat in the competition as India blew them away. Asked to bat first, India scored a modest total of 229 for 9 before bowling out the Jos Buttler-led side for 129.

Speaking at the end of the game, England head coach Matthew Mott took a dig at the ICC, saying that the governing body of the game ‘change the rules quite a bit’. He also revealed that he was not aware of the qualification process.

“Well, the ICC do change the rules quite a bit with qualification and to be honest I don’t think it would affect in any way the way we’ve played in this tournament so it’s not a big deal,” Matthew Mott said.

“It gives us a lot of focus that we need to make sure we can’t just turn up. We’ve got to turn up and play and win those games. We’re obviously up against some good teams in those last few games as well. That’s the motivation for us to pick ourselves up off the canvas and keep throwing punches,” he added.

While England are all but out of the semifinals race, they do still have the chance to seal a place in the next Champions Trophy. With three games still left for them to play, they could improve their standings in the competition. England are scheduled to play against Australia, Netherlands and Pakistan in their remaining three games.