Team England's poor run of form in the one-dayers continued as they suffered yet another ODI series loss, losing the second ODI against South Africa by five runs at the Home of Cricket in Lord's.
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Former England pacer Stuart Broad has now opened up on England's defeat and cited workload management as the reason for the side's poor performances.
Broad blames workload for England's defeat against South Africa
South Africa defeated England in a thrilling encounter by 5 runs at the Home of Cricket and took an unassailable lead of 2-0 in the three-match ODI series. The series victory is one of the historic moments in South African cricket, as it came after 27 long years on English soil.
Talking to Sky Sports, Stuart Broad reflected on the series loss to South Africa. He mentioned that it was a tired English side that had played a lot of cricket lately. He also remarked that the Hundred competition made things even more difficult for the players.
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"Right now, I think they looked like a quite tired team today...the Hundred is a very busy time for all of these players. They finished the final on Sunday...drive up to Leeds on Monday, play and get hammered, and then you gotta try and re-assess," Broad said.
A majority of the English players had a very busy summer. They featured in a long five-match Test series against India, with all of the games reduced to five days. The series was soon followed by the premier domestic competition, the Hundred.
"We don't really know what the game plan is yet with the white-ball group" 🤔
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) September 4, 2025
Stuart Broad reflects on the current state of England's ODI setup 💬 pic.twitter.com/wuMK56FKn6
"They have played 25 days of solid hard cricket against India in a Test series, two days later, straight into the Hundred playing, now they are playing a white-ball series, and the winter's only getting busier, so I think there are some jaded minds," added Broad.
England's poor run in ODI cricket
While Broad pointed out the workload for the South Africa series loss, the issue with the English 50-over side has not been related to just one series.
England has won just seven out of its 21 ODIs since the 2023 ODI World Cup. Its ODI side has slipped to number eight in the ICC ODI rankings and has been under a lot of scrutiny.
While they won their last ODI series against the West Indies, this loss at home has again raised a lot of questions over the side's ability to do well in the 50-over format.
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When asked about England's current ODI woes, which seemingly run deeper than just one series, Broad responded;
"Not really, not with this group, not with Harry Brook and Brendon McCullum. Brendon was in charge at the Champions Trophy, but had no influence on that, as he took charge just before. They played nicely against West Indies...I think with the Test side, Brendon was so clear with what he wanted to do...I suppose we are not quite sure with what the game plan is (for ODIs), and it's not necessarily working right now, but I think the group got tired."
England has been in shatters in the 50-over format. They even face the potential danger of missing out on direct qualification for the 2027 World Cup. The side, however, has 18 months to improve its fortune and seal a berth at the World Cup.