Ian Botham, Graeme Swann slam pathetic England ODI team

Alastair Cook's England ODI squad has come into sharp criticism with Sir Ian Botham calling the team performance in the ongoing ODI series against India as nothing short of an 'embarrassment'.

England lost the fourth ODI against India at Edgbaston by a humiliating margin of 9 wickets and with almost 20 overs to spare to go 0-3 down in the 5-match series.

"Rarely have I been so angry at watching an England cricket team perform. What I saw at Edgbaston was a joke. A total embarrassment from a team who should have designs on winning a World Cup in six months' time," Botham said in his column for 'The Mirror'.

"Instead, they'll be lucky if they win an egg cup between now and then playing like this. They just never learn and it upsets me to see them making the same mistakes time and time again. The one-day game has changed and we have failed to change with it," he added.

The legendary all-rounder felt that the England team had failed to catch up with the rest of the teams and didn't have a clue about playing an aggressive brand of cricket in ODIs. "When are we going to wake up and realise that positive, attacking cricket is what the 50-over game is about, not half-hearted prods to get to 250? There must be players out there who are capable of taking the risks needed to score runs at a faster rate, because this lot certainly aren't," he said.

Former off-spinner, Graeme Swann, who wanted Alastair Cook to quit playing ODIs, retaliated that England are often seen playing boring cricket. "It is boring and embarrassing cricket. We haven't caught up with the rest of the world. It is so outdated, outmoded and old fashioned and the whole strategy and outlook must change," he said.

The off-spinner added that England's lethargic response to anything regarding the shorter format of the game made him feel agitated. "If the England management, captain and selectors cannot see there is a burning issue that needs to be changed, then I am worried, angry and sad," he said.