England’s cricket teams have been accused of “arrogance” after underwhelming performances by both the men and women in recent tournaments.

England’s men’s team was bundled out of the ICC Champions Trophy this week after a shock loss to Afghanistan followed a loss to Australia in its tournament opener in Pakistan. 

The results mean England has lost 12 of its past 16 one-day international matches since the completion of the 2023 50-over World Cup in India. 

Similarly, the English women’s team was soundly beaten by Australia in the Ashes this summer, losing all four matches in various formats.

Former England spinner Alex Hartley took aim at the men’s team after the loss to Afghanistan.

“The arrogance of the England teams irritates me,” she said on the BBC’s Test Match Special podcast.

“They say ‘we don’t care about the result and we want to entertain’, but people don’t want to come and watch you if you lose all the time.”

Hartley’s point was echoed by former England batter Mark Butcher, who played in 71 Tests between 1997 and 2004.

“I completely and utterly understand why everybody loves seeing England lose,” he said on the Wisden Cricket Patreon England Daily podcast.

“The arrogance of English cricket to decide that after you strive for all that time to win a 50-over World Cup, and then within the next breath, you decide that it’s not important enough for your players to play?

“The arrogance in that and the comeuppance that has come around … There’s no wonder the crowd there are all supporting Afghanistan, whether they’re from Afghanistan or Pakistan, or wherever they are.”

The comments by Butcher and Hartley followed those from England all-rounder Liam Livingstone, who bizarrely claimed his side did not deserve to lose against Australia after Australia chased down a total of 352 inside 48 overs. 

“That was probably the frustrating thing — we did a hell of a lot really well,” he told BBC.

“I don’t personally believe that performance deserved to lose.

“There was a couple of moments in the game that we probably lost, but I felt like we were ahead of the game. At the end of the day, if you come out on the wrong side of the result … we’ve got to win both games now, it’s pretty simple.”

England was soundly beaten in both T20 and ODI series against India prior to the Champions Trophy, where former batter Kevin Pietersen criticised the team for its lack of practice in between matches.

Comments made by England opener Ben Duckett after losing the one-day series 3-0 have come under the spotlight after the team’s Champions Trophy exit. 

“If we lose 3-0 to India, I don’t care as long as we beat them in the final of the Champions Trophy,” he said.

“If we do that, we probably won’t look back on this if we do the business in that competition.”

England will once again be absent as the World Test Championship final is played at Lord’s between Australia and South Africa in June. 

Despite hosting the final on all three occasions, England is yet to play in it. 

Test captain Ben Stokes claimed his side “don’t really look at it” prior to a series against New Zealand, who won the inaugural Test Championship by beating India in a final in 2021. 

“I don’t look at it,” he told reporters.

“It’s one of those where, over a long period of time, if you’re playing really good cricket, you’re getting results that you want, you’ll end up finding yourself there in the final and in the mix.

“If you end up finding yourself in the position where you happen to be in that World Test Championship final, then it’s great but it’s a real weird one knowing that you’re playing for something over a long period of time.”

“[I] can’t remember [if I’ve] ever given any real time to be specifically thinking about the World Test Championship … [it’s] utterly confusing.”