ICC World T20 2014: England are outsiders to win limited-overs showdown in Bangladesh
Ashley Giles needs Stuart Broad fit and Eoin Morgan firing
By Ian Botham
Last Updated: 25/03/14 11:55am
Ashley Giles's side open their campaign against New Zealand on Saturday without the injured Joe Root and Ben Stokes, and with doubts persisting over the fitness of skipper Stuart Broad.
England have lost seven of their previous eight T20 internationals following recent warm-up defeats to West Indies and India.
And Botham told Sky Sports News that his country look 'short of ideas' and face an uphill struggle to mirror their 2010 triumph in the Caribbean.
"They [England] are not going to start as favourites and I think there are probably five or six sides ahead of them in the pecking order," said Beefy.
Rebuilding
"They are going to have to turn things around because their current form is appalling.
"They look short of ideas and have a panic attack against anything out of the ordinary in the spin department - but I'm sure the coaches are aware of that and they are rebuilding.
"They want to get the cement mixers going quickly, though, because you can only be a work in progress for so long and need to get results and performances.
"Broad is very important as the senior player in the side but with no Root or Stokes we also need Eoin Morgan fit and fired up and the youngsters, like Jos Buttler, coming through."
"This is a massive tournament for Giles but also the players."
Root is not in Bangladesh after being ruled out of the ICC World T20 with a broken thumb, but he will be in the Sky Sports studio to analyse England's clash with New Zealand, which begins at 1pm on Saturday on Sky Sports 2.
Make sure you catch that, as well as the fixture between Sri Lanka and South Africa (9am, Saturday, Sky Sports 2) and our highlights and analysis show, ICC World T20 Zone (11pm, Saturday, Sky Sports 2).