Woakes' woes underline England's World Cup troubles

There is not much difference between hard-earned trust and blind faith. As England travel to Mumbai on Monday and pick the bones out of their shock 69-run defeat to Afghanistan, they must work out which of the two they are placing in Chris Woakes.

Woakes has led England's ODI attack for eight years and has been among their most valuable players in that time. At his best, he takes wickets with the new ball before keeping things tight with the old one. He combines stability and power with the bat from No. 8, and he makes difficult chances look straightforward in the outfield.

But Woakes has not been at his best in England's first three matches at this World Cup - far from it. In all three, he has wasted one of the two new balls by feeding half-volleys to opposition openers in Devon Conway, Litton Das and, on Sunday afternoon, Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Across his three new-ball spells, his combined figures read 11-0-95-1.

His opening burst against Afghanistan was a shocker from which England never fully recovered. Woakes started the day by spraying the very first ball down the leg side, and Jos Buttler's fumble meant Afghanistan were 5 for 0 before they had faced a legitimate delivery. "I missed one: it set the tone for the first 10 overs," Buttler said after the game.

Woakes struggled again to locate a good line and length, floundering when Gurbaz put him under pressure. With a short leg-side boundary to defend, he was swung over midwicket for an early six and responded by overcorrecting, hanging the ball outside off and being driven for consecutive fours.

He was unfortunate at times: his figures would have looked better with better support in the field, with Jonny Bairstow misjudging a ball at point on top of Buttler's early error. Yet this was the third consecutive match in which the leader of England's attack had looked impotent with the new ball.

It has not been hard to diagnose the problem. Far too often, Woakes has strayed from the line and length that makes his seam movement so effective. Primarily, this has been through overpitching: according to ESPNcricinfo's ball-by-ball data, he has bowled 13 'full' balls in the first powerplay which have cost 32 runs.

Perhaps the most telling moment came in the 25th over of Afghanistan's innings. After conceding 106 for 0 in the first 14 overs, England's spinners - Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone - dragged things back after drinks. Across the subsequent 10 overs, Afghanistan managed 33 for 3, and Buttler sensed an opportunity to reintroduce Woakes.

But, Azmatullah Omarzai, a 23-year-old allrounder batting in the top five for only the third time in his ODI career, saw things differently. The second ball of Woakes' second spell was an attempted cutter which disappeared over the leg side for six. Two balls later, when Woakes went full and wide outside off stump, Omarzai opened the face to pick up four more through point.

And that was that. Woakes was out of the attack six balls after his return and was deemed unusable for the rest of the innings. He finished with figures of 0 for 41 from his four overs. The last time he bowled so few in a full-length ODI innings was six years ago, when he strained his side in his second over.

Woakes' reputation as an unhappy traveller is justified by his Test record; less so in ODIs. His record overseas (96 wickets at 32.33) is not much worse than at home (69 at 27.91) and there will be surfaces in this tournament which suit him much more than Delhi did - not least the Wankhede, where England vs South Africa is the first game the stadium will host in this tournament on Saturday.

Buttler was asked about Woakes in several media interactions after the game and made clear that he will continue to be backed. "He's been a high-class leader of our attack for a long period of time," he told the BBC. "I always maintain huge amount of faith in him." On Sky, he said: "He's been such a brilliant bowler for a very long period of time and is a class guy, so you keep backing that."

A class guy? Few would argue with the sentiment, but the comment jarred: how was it relevant to his form, or his likely retention in England's side to play South Africa on Saturday night? Buttler called him "a class bowler" in another interview; perhaps this was a slip of the tongue, and he should be given the benefit of the doubt.

Woakes was hardly the only England bowler to struggle in Delhi. Sam Curran bowled his worst ODI spell, leaking 46 runs in four wicketless overs - including 18 off the 46th, as Mujeeb Ur Rahman swung from the hip - and, like Woakes, is yet to contribute with the bat in this tournament. There is every chance David Willey will replace him against South Africa.

Yet Woakes' status as the leader of England's attack - and Buttler's unequivocal backing - means he is the bowler who finds himself under real pressure. He has started tournaments slowly before: just look at the 2019 ODI World Cup, when he took 6 for 57 across the semi-final and final. Unless he shows a similar improvement this time, England's bid for back-to-back World Cups will be over before it has started.