One bad game doesn't change England's status

Why will England be frustrated?

Things were going so well for England. Three wins from their three group games - the only side to manage that feat - and a largely in-form squad suggested the semi-final against a talented but fragile Pakistan team should have been a formality. Instead, England fluffed their lines badly in Cardiff and were dumped out of a tournament they could and perhaps should have won.

It was a frustrating defeat on a number of levels. The semi-final was played on a pitch which suited Pakistan more than England - so much for home advantage - and captain Eoin Morgan admitted his side showed nowhere near their true ability in the eight-wicket defeat. It proved that this is a side which can excite and enthral but which still does not adapt consistently well when presented with conditions that do not suit their preferred approach to batting of full-on assault.

After some excellent performances in the group stage, in particular against New Zealand and Australia, for England to disappoint when it mattered most makes this defeat even harder for fans to take than it otherwise might have been. With some of the strongest teams - on paper at least - knocked out early including South Africa and Australia, England had a great chance to win their first global one-day tournament.

Why did it happen?

Eoin Morgan is probably still trying to work this out. The principle reasons for their exit were Pakistan's brilliance in the semi-final and England's inability to adapt to the conditions in Cardiff. There is no shame in a side playing better than you but England will be disappointed they weren't able to play better themselves in a must-win match. The conditions certainly played their part but it is difficult to tell how much the pressure of a knock-out situation and the favourites tag also got to them.

During the semi-final, England certainly attempted to play in the same manner as they had done earlier in the tournament as the dismissals of Alex Hales and Morgan, both advancing down the wicket to the bowlers, showed. It didn't appear that they froze, but they did fail to play to the high standards they had shown previously including during their defeat of New Zealand on a similar Cardiff wicket. Despite their attempts to salvage the situation, they could not adapt to the conditions nor the Pakistani bowling. It looked a problem of skill rather than one of mental fortitude.

England certainly cannot blame their preparation. They have not had any Test assignments this year as the schedulers, for once, gave them the time and matches with which to be able to fully prepare for this tournament. Between January and the start of the tournament, England had played eleven ODIs in a variety of conditions and took on both India and South Africa, two of the best teams in the world over the recent past. Some players were allowed to play in the IPL to further prepare and the domestic season was restructured so those players not in India could play white-ball cricket.

Was it inexperience? Perhaps. England's team against Pakistan had 272 less caps than the Australian side had when they won the World Cup in 2015 (or perhaps better expressed as 25 less appearances per player on average) which provides an understanding that England are not yet where they need to be in terms of the experience required to win global tournaments. In mitigation, Pakistan's team was arguably more inexperienced than England's so that clearly isn't the be all and end all of things but England's relative lack of experience may have played a part in their inability to adapt to the pressure and conditions in Cardiff.

What went well?

Despite their failure to win the competition as they had set out to do, lots of things went well, much as they have done over the past two years. England's batting fired in three out of their four matches and Joe Root, Morgan, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler all proved their class at various stages. They fielded soundly enough, although they still have work to do in the regularity with which they hit the stumps, and Morgan captained the side intelligently.

Although their performance in Cardiff was wayward, before that England's bowlers had also fared well, particularly when restricting Australia to 277 on an excellent Edgbaston pitch. Mark Wood's performances, the highlight being his dismissal of Kane Williamson in Cardiff with a rip snorter of a delivery, proved what a fine bowler they have on their hands if they can keep him fit.

It was also good to see that England did not waver in their plans or approach. Before previous tournaments, England have often changed things last minute - including their captain before the last World Cup - so it was good to see that they stuck to the approach they had been working on for the previous two years. That positive outlook needs to remain but England need to add some subtlety to make them a truly rounded side.

What didn't go well?

How about the whole semi-final? The match was a car crash for England from the moment Morgan lost the toss and couldn't have gone worse even if much of the credit for their poor showing must go to Pakistan. Before that, England had hardly put a foot wrong.

The only talking point during the group stages was the form, or lack of it, of Jason Roy. Morgan's decision to stick with him for the group games was the right one but so too was England's decision to replace him with Jonny Bairstow for the semi-final after Roy had failed to pass 13 in the three previous matches. Bairstow scored 43 in the semi-final so that decision was partly vindicated. With hindsight, Roy's IPL stint, where he played little and seemed to practise his way out of form, probably did him more harm than good.

Although England coped relatively well without him in the other matches, Chris Woakes' injury also didn't help their cause. He is one of their best limited overs players and would have been the sort of player who might have thrived on Cardiff's low and slow pitch. His skiddy accuracy with the ball may have put Pakistan's batsmen under far more pressure than England's seamers were able to during the semi-final and they also missed his calm and calculated batting at number eight.

How are they set for the future?

England have not become a bad team overnight and one bad performance, no matter how desperate, will change that. They still have a number of world class players and a good leader in Morgan which suggests they should continue to grow and improve as they play more one-day cricket in a variety of conditions.

Their Champions Trophy squad contained just two players over the age of 30 so there will be no mass exodus of players ahead of the next World Cup. Perhaps only Liam Plunkett may struggle to make that tournament in 2019 but he was a standout performer in England's group matches with eight wickets at 24.50 so he still has plenty to offer for now.

With another two years of experience behind them and perhaps the addition of one or two younger players such as left-arm seamer Sam Curran and leg-spinner Mason Crane to the mix, England should be in a good position to make a challenge for the next World Cup. Their focus between now and then must be on honing their method on pitches which aren't perfectly flat and true.

Result: Par

England's semi-final exit could arguably be seen as underwhelming given they were at home and their strong recent form. They are, however, the fourth ranked ODI side in the world so a semi-final place was probably about right. Defeats of Australia and New Zealand shouldn't be sniffed at either.