England 'don't have enough belief' - Robinson

Learning to cope under pressure will be top of the agenda as England Women embark on a new era under the captaincy of Heather Knight with Mark Robinson, the head coach who has instigated dramatic change over the last few weeks, saying the team "don't have enough belief in themselves."

Robinson was speaking publicly for the first time since England's World T20 exit at the hands of Australia since when he removed Charlotte Edwards as captain and told her she would not be part of his plans for the season ahead which led to her retirement from international cricket.

In the semi-final against Australia, England were 67 without loss in the tenth over before Edwards departed and they subsided to 127 for 7 to lose by five runs with Robinson saying they suffered "stage fright". Robinson added that one of the challenges he faces is finding a way for the team to play enough high-pressure cricket to learn to cope with such situations, but while he acknowledged there was no quick fix he believes there is the talent for England to emerge as a force again.

"In the semi-final some players didn't turn up mentally - we have to look at why and what happened. It wasn't that we got beat but that certain players got stage fright and that's what we have to avoid. That's why we've gone back to basics," Robinson said. "Part of that is we don't play enough big games, the Women's Super League will help in that, the more pressurised games we play the better, but we have to try and unravel why under pressure certain people withdraw and don't step forward. We played Pakistan the game before and our mentality was different. The girls fundamentally don't have enough belief in themselves; they have so much more to give and we have to support that."

When Edwards retired she said that Robinson had indicated to her that he felt other batsmen in the side had been "hiding behind her" as she continued to be a consistent run-scorer, including comfortably topping England's tally at the World T20, even while overall results diminished. At Lord's on Friday, Robinson said there was a backlog of batsmen who needed the chance to play higher up the order with openings now created by the retirement of Edwards and Lydia Greenway, plus the likely unavailability of Sarah Taylor. Knight did not entirely accept that others had left the batting to Edwards but agreed that it was time for other players to stamp their mark.

"I think hiding behind is quite a strong term, but having that room and opportunity to perform will help the girls massively," Knight said. "I don't think it was an issue that if Charlotte got out we had lost the game, that's not the attitude we had at all. We have relied on a few players, not just Charlotte, Sarah Taylor as well, but it's all changed now so it's about stepping out of those shadows."

Robinson conceded that the early days of the central contract system for the women was providing some challenges - "for the first time they have something to lose, not just gain," - and that he still struggled to get enough time with his squad because of their other employment commitments. "There's only so much we can do and we are doing it bit by bit. We are trying to restructure and look at things. There is lots we need to be aware of as the sands are shifting all the time," he said.

One of the criticisms of the structure of the English game has been the increasing gap between the centrally-contracted group and the levels below. Robinson said he was getting other parts of the set-up working more closely together including the Academy and Under-19s. "We are trying to get things more integrated to try and bridge the gaps. There is a danger if all the expertise is going into the top level but we are aware of that."

While the change of captaincy was not unexpected with England's lack of a global trophy since 2009 - following the loss of the Ashes last year - the rather brutal end to Edwards' career did come as a surprise. Robinson was keen to stress how he retained a good relationship with Edwards and admitted that he knew his decision would not prove popular but felt it was a point of no return with the World Cup a year away.

"We haven't won anything since 2009 and lost the last Ashes, so it wasn't as if we had a hugely successful team so there was a time to do things," he said. "Lottie is a once-in-a-generation type cricketer, she is outstanding as a player and a person, and you don't look to replace those types of players because you can't. I've done pro sport for 30 years and when working with Lottie it was clear this was someone special, but there's a time we have to make a decision to do things differently. That's why we've appointed a new captain of a different age, to look to the future.

"Whether we will be ready for next year I don't know. It will be our ambition to win it, of course. But the one thing that came out in all our chats was that we felt we had to make some changes about how we go about our cricket. I'd hate anyone to think I'm having a go at Lottie, she is fantastic, but I just felt it was the right time to make the changes for the long term. This is a new era of cricket and we have to be embracing it."