Former captain Andrew Strauss has admitted that England have traditionally "played too fearfully" to win the one-day international World Cup.

Ahead of the tournament early next year, it has been suggested by numerous pundits that skipper Alastair Cook, as well as a handful of other members of the squad, should be dropped in favour of younger players to give England the best chance of going deep.

However, Strauss has claimed that anxiety among the batsmen, rather than the identity of the personnel, has been the biggest factor behind recent negative performances.

"I would argue it's not the strategy which is wrong, it's that players haven't actually played well enough and it's very hard to score 400 in a one-day international if you're not confident," he told BBC Sport.

"Personally I think the England players, even throughout my time playing one-day cricket, have played too fearfully, they've been far too fearful of getting out. You can't make 400 if you've got that kind of attitude."

England begin their World Cup campaign on Saturday, February 14 against co-hosts Australia.