Pressure mounting on England as weight of history stacks up

Current and former greats have piled the pressure on England ahead of their mouth-watering semi-final — with South Africa’s Faf du Plessis tipping it will be Australia and India in the final.

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England is “under huge pressure” entering Thursday’s showdown against Australia with current and former greats doubting whether they have the resolve for the World Cup knockout rounds.

Former great Andrew Symonds said the host nation could melt under the weight of expectation as England prepares for its first semi-final since 1992.

“They’ve been under the pump,” Symonds told the Herald Sun before the semi-final match-ups were locked in.

“The thing I said from the outset is they’ve never won the World Cup and we all know what the English media can be like.

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“They’re very aggressive and abrupt and can be rude and if they lose to the Kiwis there’ll be heads on the chopping block.

“Whether they can go through as the No.1 ranked side and win this World Cup, I wouldn’t put money on it.

“I’m not convinced that they’ll be there when the last ball is bowled and lifting that trophy.”

A history of success... Ricky Ponting poses with the 1999 and 2003 World Cup trophies — two of the five Australia has won. Picture: Getty

South African skipper Faf du Plessis shared Symonds’ concerns, even after striking a commanding century to knock Australia out of top spot.

Du Plessis tipped an India-Australia final at Lord’s on Sunday, owing to the past two tournament winners’ proven form in high-pressure matches.

“Australia and India has proven it time and time again,” he said.

“They are teams that win big games. It’s hard to look past Australia and the success they’ve had in winning World Cups, as much as we would like to say we want to compete with that.”

England's captain Eoin Morgan snapped at the press after his side’s defeat to Australia in the round-robin. Picture: AP

While England captain Eoin Morgan snapped when asked if his team feared Australia at World Cups, du Plessis said the defending champion’s aura made it feel like they were playing with a 12th man.

“The confidence that an Australian team comes into a World Cup with — five times that they have lifted the trophy — that confidence is just like an extra player on your team,” he said.

“You need to be up for the fight when you play Australia, up for the challenge. It is a team that if you slightly off in terms of being up for the fight, they will bully you and that is a fact.

“They have shown that on a lot of occasions, so that’s always my message when we play against Australia, just make sure that you are there to look the opposition in the eye and fight for your country.”

“We have probably played our best cricket the last two years against Australia because we do raise our intensity a little bit more, which should be there for all games, but I can’t tell you why it’s not.”