England fans were told yesterday by former batsman Mark Butcher to “hide behind the sofa” rather than watch the Ashes this summer.

England were embarrassingly dumped out of the World Cup group stages with one game to spare on Monday after an embarrassing loss to Bangladesh followed defeats to Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand.

There is no let-up for England, who face Test series against West Indies and New Zealand before Australia arrive for the Ashes in the summer.

Butcher, who played in 71 Tests for England, believes 2015 may prove to be a chastening experience for Peter Moores’s side.

“We’re going to be playing against New Zealand in the first part of the summer before the Ashes starts in Test match cricket,” Butcher said.

“I’m afraid with the team that we have at the moment, and the way things are at the moment, they (New Zealand) are going to give us an absolute hiding.

“And then when Australia come, just don’t watch, hide behind the sofa.

“Because I can see it being an absolutely dreadful six to eight months or so of cricket for England and I’m sorry to have to say that.”

England have won only one series in six across all formats since Moores was appointed in April 2014.

The team conclude their dismal World Cup campaign against Afghanistan tomorrow, but even a win will not prevent a third group-stage exit in five tournaments.

“It’s bad, it’s been coming and lots of things need to change to put it right,” Butcher said.

“There’s almost a feeling of being resigned to playing the cricket we’ve played in one-day internationals and Test matches since the end of the back-to-back Ashes series, it has been pretty poor.

“In terms of one-day cricket, that goes a lot further back than that too.”