Yes it really, really did happen. Afghanistan hammered the world champions in Delhi and made 15 October 2023 a date their players will never forget. As bad as this is for England, who are now in serious trouble, there’s a bigger picture. The World Cup needed this result; international cricket needed Afghanistan to finally beat one of the big six. The cricket world has changed today – subtly, but indelibly. Afghanistan are at the top table now.
Thanks for your company and emails; I’ll leave you with Simon Burnton’s report. Goodnight.
Updated
Jos Buttler have just done another interview, this time with Athers on Sky Sports. It was the usual stuff, delivered almost on auto-pilot, but the last bit was interesting.
Mike Atherton So you still have faith in the group of players, given that two of the defeats have been quite heavy?
Jos Buttler [hardens his face and stares right into Atherton’s eyes] Yeah absolutely.
Buttler is tougher than people realise, with more of a temper than Eoin Morgan, and he turned the air blue in the dressing-room after a similar defeat to Ireland at last year’s World T20. It’ll be fascinating to see how he, and England, approach the game against South Africa.
