Jonny Bairstow's claim that people are waiting for England to fail at the World Cup is "negative and pathetic", says former England captain Michael Vaughan.
England opener Bairstow was responding to criticism from Vaughan and fellow ex-skipper Kevin Pietersen after the hosts suffered back-to-back losses against Sri Lanka and Australia.
"Never has an England team had so much support, but it's you and your team that has disappointed Jonny," Vaughan said in an Instagram post.
England currently sit fourth in the group table - the last of the semi-final places - with games to come against India and New Zealand.
Victory over India on Sunday would give England's qualification chances a huge boost. If they lose, it will come down to their final match against New Zealand at Chester-le-Street on Wednesday, as well as other results.
"People were waiting for us to fail," said Yorkshire's Bairstow.
"They are not willing us on to win, in many ways, they are waiting for you to get that loss, so they can jump on your throat.
"It's a typical English thing to do, in every sport."
But Vaughan responded on Friday: "How wrong can @jbairstow21 be. Never has an England team had so much support but it's you and your team that has disappointed Jonny. WIN 2 games and you are in the semis.
"With this negative, pathetic mindset I am concerned though. It's not the media's fault you have lost 3 games!!!"
Pietersen said one-day skipper Eoin Morgan was "scared" in the 64-run defeat by Australia, while Bairstow was played a clip from BBC Radio 5 Live of Vaughan saying England could be heading for their worst World Cup.
"As he said, he's been in two atrocious World Cups himself," the England opener responded. "We're still in the World Cup and we're playing a great brand of cricket.
"It is just showbiz. They are paid to have an opinion."
| World Cup group table | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Team | P | W | L | T | NR | RR | Pts |
| 1 | Australia (Q) | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.906 | 12 |
| 2 | India | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.16 | 11 |
| 3 | New Zealand | 7 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.028 | 11 |
| 4 | England | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.051 | 8 |
| 5 | Bangladesh | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | -0.133 | 7 |
| 6 | Pakistan | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | -0.976 | 7 |
| 7 | Sri Lanka | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -1.119 | 6 |
| 8 | West Indies | 7 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | -0.32 | 3 |
| 9 | South Africa | 7 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | -0.324 | 3 |
| 10 | Afghanistan | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.634 | 0 |
England: India (30 June), New Zealand (3 July).
Sri Lanka: South Africa (28 June), West Indies (1 July), India (6 July).
Bangladesh: India (2 July), Pakistan (5 July).
Pakistan: Afghanistan (29 June), Bangladesh (5 July).
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