Pick critical as England youngsters are routed

India Under-19 472 for 4 dec (Pujara 211, Tewari 109) beat England Under-19 258 and 77 (Nadeem 6-23) by an innings and 137 runs
Scorecard

Andy Pick, England Under-19's coach, had no excuses after watching his side lose 16 wickets on the final day of their Test series against India. The debacle wrapped up a 3-0 series whitewash, as the left-arm spinner, Shanbaz Nadeem, bamboozled the young batsmen with figures of 10 for 131, including 6 for 23 as the second innings folded for 77.

"It was a flat wicket and their boys batted well," Pick told ecb.co.uk. "We didn't bowl particularly badly but we just never looked like getting anybody out. Having encouraged the boys to be cautious and selective when they batted in the first two Tests and bat some time, this time we told them to play some shots and express themselves. We had nothing to lose so we told the boys to go out there and show what we can do."

England had begun the final day on a decent 189 for 4 in their first innings, with Ben Harmison, the younger brother of Steve, unbeaten on 40. He went on to make 65, once we was the fifth man out, the tail collapsed without him. "We followed on and it was a debacle," added Pick. "There was no application. We were a team that looked as if we had had the stuffing knocked out of us and batted accordingly.

"We've been second-best in all departments really," said Pick. "We've had no bowlers who have been in a position to put any pressure on them or look like getting people out. We've bowled like we were just trying to contain and just hoping something would happen rather than force something to happen."

"As a group we've failed to apply ourselves time and time again. I've sat down with John Abrahams [the tour manager] and we asked ourselves `are we really this bad?' We don't think we are. We've seen the players that we've brought with us play well in the past and know that they are capable of better than they have shown on this trip."

A five-match one-day series begins in Agartala on Tuesday. England's young cricketers will need to lift their performances considerably if they are to avoid further humiliation.