England’s performance in the group stage was undoubtedly unconvincing.<\/p>\n
They were taken to the final ball by Nepal<\/a> and lost to West Indies<\/a> in Mumbai, before edging to wins over Italy and Scotland in Kolkata.<\/p>\n Batters got in and got out – Tom Banton’s 63 not out the only real match-defining score. Even the ever-reliable Adil Rashid has gone for nine runs per over or more in three of the four games.<\/p>\n It means England have shown little to suggest they can threaten late into the tournament to this point.<\/p>\n Without improvement this will likely be a fourth underwhelming major tournament in a row since they won the T20 World Cup in 2022.<\/p>\n But Brook’s comments also reflect some of the difficulties faced by the major nations at this World Cup \u2013 a tournament in which no team has built an entirely compelling case to suggest they will be champions.<\/p>\n Players from the lower-ranked teams expressed their keenness to perform, not just to cause an upset but also to prove they are deserving of the greater opportunities they so desperately seek.<\/p>\n The Test-playing sides, in contrast, had everything to lose. Just ask Mitchell Marsh when he gets off his flight to back to Australia on Saturday.<\/p>\n And for all their struggles to finish matches with ease, England were also ahead in all three games against their lower-ranked opponents.<\/p>\n Nepal’s chase looked to have stalled, Scotland were 127-8 and Italy 1-2 in the first over of their chase.<\/p>\n Most former England captains would not admit it, and maybe Brook has shown he would, but it would only be human to relax in those situations.<\/p>\n Most of all, however, England are hoping familiarity brings an upturn in fortunes.<\/p>\n They returned to Sri Lanka on Tuesday, first spending two nights in Colombo before taking the winding drive to Pallekele.<\/p>\n Colombo was where Brook stood in front of his team-mates in late January and apologised for his late-night antics in Wellington and the subsequent fallout \u2013 an attempt to draw a line under the Ashes defeat.<\/p>\n