Paul Farbrace is keen for England to end a dispiriting World Cup campaign on a positive note when they take on Afghanistan in their final Pool A match.
There will be nothing but pride to play for at the Sydney Cricket Ground for Eoin Morgan’s men, whose hopes of reaching the knockout phase of the global competition were dashed by Monday’s 15-run defeat to Bangladesh.
It was their fourth loss in five matches and while Assistant Coach Farbrace admitted the mood in the camp is low as a result, he wants his troops to take their frustrations out on the tournament debutants.
“The first thing is we’ve got to find a way to get ourselves in a position to play well tomorrow and win the game tomorrow,” Farbrace said.
“Practice yesterday was a bit subdued, it wasn’t as good as it perhaps has been and that isn’t through anything other than the boys are still hurting from the other night, and there is huge disappointment.
“Our job now is to make sure we give ourselves the best chance, clear heads and go and play proper cricket tomorrow, and hopefully play some cricket that we’ve said we’ve wanted to play all the way through.”
England began their World Cup campaign with heavy defeats in their opening two matches, with Australia winning by 111 runs in Melbourne and fellow co-hosts New Zealand coasting home with eight wickets and 226 balls to spare in Wellington.
Farbrace believes those losses had a destabilising effect on England’s hopes of progressing deep into the tournament.
“I’m not sure that we’ve really recovered from the first two games in the tournament; we got blown away in the first two games and I don’t think we’ve really recovered from that,” he said.
“There’s been a lot said about perhaps our nervousness and tension that we look like we’re playing with and I think it’s hard to argue against that.”
While head coach Peter Moores has born the brunt of criticism for England’s poor tournament, Farbrace believes any blame should be shared.
“We’re in this together as a team and we’re all responsible,” Farbrace added. “It’s not just Pete, we’re all responsible. Every single one of us will go away from here being very disappointed.
“You win as a team, you lose as a team and every single member of the coaching team has to share that responsibility with Pete.
“It’s not him, he hasn’t cost England the chance of moving into the next stage of the World Cup. We’re all in this together.”