Assistant coach Marcus Trescothick accepts England’s struggling One Day International side cannot afford to take their World Cup spot for granted, stressing the need to “climb those rankings”.

Back-to-back defeats against South Africa at Headingley and Lord’s have cost England the Metro Bank Series with a game to spare on Sunday, and kept them rooted at eighth in the ICC standings.

For a side who were trailblazers and world champions in 2019 that is a significant fall from grace and one that even raises concerns over their automatic place at the next tournament.

Co-hosts South Africa and Zimbabwe are already guaranteed to be there, with the next eight berths determined by the table. While there is plenty of time to pull away from the likes of Bangladesh and the West Indies befor

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