Moles plots England's final ignominy

England will be without allrounders Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali for their final World Cup match against an Afghanistan side eager to inflict the final ignominy in a disastrous World Cup campaign.

England have never played an ODI against Afghanistan, who did not have a team at the turn of the century and who, just to add spice to the affair, are coached by a former old salt of the English county circuit - the ex-Warwickshire batsman Andy Moles.

Dead rubber or not in Sydney on Friday, another defeat would be hugely embarrassing for England. Afghanistan's chances of competing in the World Cup on English shores in 2019 have been reduced by the decision to cut the tournament to 10 teams - a decision strongly supported by the ECB.

Woakes left the Adelaide Oval with a protective boot on a left foot damaged while making a futile unbeaten 42 in a 15-run defeat against Bangladesh which heralded England's departure from the tournament at the group stage.

Moeen suffered a slight side strain while bowling and while he played on after leaving the field for treatment he also will not play in Sydney, leaving England with quite a challenge to balance their side.

Offspinner James Tredwell might get his first opportunity of the series with Moeen no longer available to bowl in the middle overs, but with the loss of Woakes also weakening the tail, and Ben Stokes omitted from the squad, Ravi Bopara might be asked to share the fifth bowler's role with Joe Root.

"Scans revealed Chris Woakes has a left third metatarsal stress reaction and Moeen Ali has a left sided abdominal strain,'' an ECB spokesperson said. "Both players have been ruled out of the match against Afghanistan on Friday and will be reassessed when the team returns to the UK.''

England's discomfort will be all the more evident because they name their squad for a three-Test tour of the Caribbean on Tuesday.

The absence of either Woakes or Moeen would be a blow to England's beleaguered coach Peter Moores, who will be looking to rebuild his tarnished reputation with a series victory in the West Indies amid calls for him to be sacked following the World Cup debacle.

Moles needs no persuading that Afghanistan have enhanced the tournament. "These players are idolised," he said. "When we beat Scotland there were massive celebrations in the streets all around Afghanistan. These players are leaders and provide a unifying message not just in Afghanistan but around the world.

"Here we are talking about Afghanistan playing cricket and a month ago it would only be about suicide bombers. We have 15 young men on a world stage celebrating a sport and they've done well to impress people. They've got to keep it going on now. We don't want to stand still.''

Few sides would observe England's tribulations at the moment without fancying their chances of pulling off an upset. "England are not in the best of nick at the moment and we still believe that we have a scare in us - especially if we show a bit more composure with the bat at the top of the order. My team must play the Afghan way. They've got their own brand of cricket which is exciting, which is passionate, and at times they get it wrong. But it's done with passion and everybody has a smile on their face.''

Moles took over as Afghanistan coach after the qualified for the World Cup last year and spent almost three months living in Kabul, against the advice of his brother, who used to work for the Metropolitan Police in anti-terrorism, not to go because of the security risk.

"My brother told me not to go,'' Moles said. ``He advises me on one or two things to look out for and to make me a little wiser in planning my days to limit the risk that may be out there.

"The danger is you get lackadaisical but I've not felt threatened at any time. There's lots of military hardware around travelling the street and armed guards wherever you go - AK47s everywhere. But up to now I've just had to be smart and make the right choices.''