England need spark at T20 World Cup after unconvincing progress into Super Eights [Video]

Exactly where they are at, though, is harder to gauge. When half of the warm-up series against Pakistan was lost to bad weather, there was solace in the fact that three matches against associate nations might turn the first group stage into a de-facto prep camp. But more rain and England’s failings have seen the last two of those, against Oman and Namibia, instead unfold like a series of video game mini-quests and there has been no opportunity to mould a side, nor tune into the conventional rhythms of the format. In England’s one ‘normal’ match, against Australia, they were hammered.