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The England team was eliminated of a World Cup after losing a match they were expected to win, due to a surprise performance which took everyone by surprise. Does that ring a bell? This is because it describes two events involving England which took place almost exactly a year separated: recently, their ODI World Cup semi-final loss at the hands of South Africa; a year ago, their loss in a must-win group stage match against West Indies in the T20 version.

The Interim Period

During that time, there was a 16-0 Ashes debacle and a post-series review which was intended to overhaul the system. Was it successful? Let’s look a little more closely into those two World Cup eliminations. In 2024, England fell to pieces, dropped five catches, and allowed a bish-bash-bosh innings from Qiana Joseph to win the day. In the latest match, a player with superb skill and composure – the South Africa captain, Laura Wolvaardt – demonstrated why she is among the elite in cricket. She gave precisely one chance – a catch to Alice Capsey at long-on – and England held on to it. The trouble was, she had already scored 169 runs by that point.

‘It’s painful’: Edwards looks to next generation after England’s World Cup drubbing.

This may not offer the England head coach, Charlotte Edwards, much consolation as she flies home from her first World Cup as manager – she is a performance-focused leader, and a loss is a loss. But she has already made a difference. From the doldrums of dropping eight catches in a single day of Test cricket in Melbourne, half a year on England held on to more chances this World Cup than any other team. That’s an improvement.

The Batting Collapse

The issue arose following Wolvaardt’s knock. Did anyone inside that England dressing room truly confident they were able to reach a total of more than 300? Certainly no one outside it did. England’s collapse to nought for two and 1/3 sparked a reaction not of horror but of weary inevitability.

“We do need to improve our batting – I don’t think it’s been reliable at times,” Edwards said after the match. This highlights the problem. There have been eight totals of more than 300 in this tournament: three of them were hit by Australia, three by India, and two by South Africa. This is the new normal in women’s ODI cricket: in order to rival the world’s best, England need a batting order which can confidently expect to surpass 300 runs. But when nobody except Nat Sciver-Brunt and Heather Knight has a history of consistently scoring meaningful runs, well, you do the maths.

Collaborative Innings

Capsey’s century stand with Sciver-Brunt in the semi-final wasn’t entirely pointless – Capsey demonstrated that she can play responsibly, at least for 70 balls – but it was insufficient to win the game. Compare and contrast with South Africa, who were able to add 117 runs from their last 10 overs, exceeding the magic 300, because Wolvaardt had faith in the batters following her and felt she had the liberty to hit out. “Knowing what we still had in the sheds with the last 10 coming up, I thought I’d better have a swing,” she explained to Sky Sports.

Heather Knight and Nat Sciver-Brunt were the only England batters to score runs consistently during the tournament.

Coaching Dilemmas

When Edwards was appointed in April, her challenge was whether to stick or twist: she chose to allow an veteran team who had bombed in the Ashes one last shot at World Cup glory. She got it wrong. England return home with the worst of both worlds: without a trophy, and with no foundations on which to restructure over the next four years. The majority of the top order from the semi-final are unlikely to play in another 50-over World Cup.

A new strategy is now approaching, as Edwards herself indicated. “This is the end of an ODI cycle,” she said. “We’ve got to look at the future now.”

Upcoming Talent

It’s about time: an opportunity to evaluate at the 21-year-old left-handed batter Grace Scrivens, the 20-year-old wicketkeeper Seren Smale and the 18-year-old left-arm spinner Tilly Corteen-Coleman.

The nagging worry is that it might be overdue: England’s most recent set of central contracts were signed, sealed and delivered on 1 October. The cricket board has not yet published a full list of contracted players, but it doesn’t take a genius to deduce that the current World Cup squad are the main beneficiaries.

The Path Ahead

Stagnation and complacency were the twin problems on which the Ashes whitewash was built – time for Edwards to signal that she is serious about preventing their return.