Leaving in a rush

What a way to go – 58 all out and in front of the TV cameras to boot. There was nowhere to hide for England. Over the last few years the senior side has largely eradicated those collapses that so typified the 1990s, and when a clump of wickets do crash together – as at Lord’s last summer when they slumped to 21 for 5 against the Aussies –someone, on that occasion Kevin Pietersen, is usually there to at least give a score some respectability.

During the tour of Pakistan before Christmas, England were seemingly heading for a draw at Lahore. They lunched on 201 for 2, but before anyone had contemplated their afternoon tea the match was over as England lost eight for 43. It was a similar procession today, at Premadasa, but the Under-19s didn’t have a 200-run head start. It is amazing once a collapse starts how they gain an irresistible momentum.

When the U-19s were 38 for 8 the most famous England capitulation of my generation – the 46 all out at Trinidad – came flooding back into the memory. On that occasion England had an hour to bat on the fourth afternoon and lost Mike Atherton first ball, here they had 20 minutes before lunch, survived the first ball but proceeded to lose three. It was a torrid little time to bat, and a completely pointless regulation that put England in that position.

Despite getting a pasting with the ball they had got through their overs at a decent lick – 37 overs of spin helped. But because of this they then had to bat straight away, after chasing leather for 50 overs in 33 degrees. I’m not saying a 45-minute break would have made any difference, but surely it would have given them a better chance. And this wasn’t just to fit in with TV, it had happened early in the tournament but with less dramatic consequences.

The England lunch break must have been a depressing affair with the realisation that the World Cup had gone. Moeen Ali, in a refreshingly open interview afterwards, said: “We really thought we had a chance of winning the tournament, but we got a thrashing.”

But, in a slightly sadistic way, there is a thrill in watching a batting collapse, the unstoppable bowlers and frenzied atmosphere. And today at least the end came quickly – there is nothing worse than a hopeless one-day innings that stretches itself out to the bitter end. Not that England will be feeling any better about things. People often say that no one remembers who loses a semi-final – today’s proceedings will take some forgetting.