Tim Boon reflects on a disappointing tour for England

England arrived in Sri Lanka as the reigning World champions. Unfortunately they haven't played like champions and will leave tonight knowing that they have been totally outclassed. At least they were saved the ignominy of a place in the Plate League.

The manner in which West Indies, Sri Lanka and India defeated them must surely be a cause for concern. The U-19 side is an integral part of Team England. The squad represents a nursery ground for England's future and in theory the players should move onto play for the Test side.

However the current crop of players do not provide much hope for the future. In this tournament there has been a visible gulf in talent in both technique and mental resilience, between the English players and their counterparts in the other major Test playing nations. A gulf in performance that cannot merely be explained by the unfamiliar conditions in Sri Lanka.

Speaking after England had been knocked out, Tim Boon, the coach was clearly disappointed. ``I think that where we are in the competition and to go out now is a true representation of the standards that we have reached at the moment.

``I knew that we didn't have team of superstars and to go to the semi-finals or finals the players had to play to their potential or above. They haven't played to that potential.

``What you have to bear in mind though is that we are in Asia and that we are going to probably see three sides from Asia in the semi-final. They know their own conditions, they are coming out of three to four months cricket. We have come out of a winter where we have had to try to simulate what we were going to be up against.''

With clear reference to the lack of application shown by the batsmen throughout the tour he said, ``It's not about technique, it's about handling pressure. When the opposition applies pressure it takes a person of a lot of talent and a lot of steel to overcome the situation. It takes some guts sometimes and we have got to learn to show that. My recommendations will be that we look in cricket to people who can show this qualities, ability on its own is not enough.''

Whilst this may well be partly true, one can't hide from the fact that English batsmen's techniques were found to be lacking, especially against the spinners. With the exception of Gary Pratt, who Tim Boon felt was the 'one highlight of the tour,' the batsmen appeared clueless as to where to score their runs against the spinners.

The one hope is that the strength of the side is cyclical. One must bear in mind the fact that the U-19's has been very successful in the past two years. Boon was also upbeat about the potential of some of the 15-17 year olds who are now working their way up.

Nevertheless, with the form of England's senior team perennially stuck on the downside of a rather large circle, the news from Sri Lanka is not promising.