Their preparation was far from perfect, and as soon as England's players took the decision not to go to Zimbabwe they knew that their time in the tournament may be limited.
|Coach: Duncan Fletcher|
Captain: Nasser Hussain
And so it came to pass.
It's ironic that Zimbabwe went through, but I'm not sure that England played well enough to progress.
In beating Pakistan, Nasser Hussain's team surprised everybody, defeat to India was probably more typical of the standard they're at and of course Australia pulled off an amazing victory.
James Anderson bowled well and I felt sorry for him when he was thrown the ball at the death in that game - I hope his confidence has not been ruined as a result.
His performance goes to show that there are good young players out there and a third poor showing in a World Cup should provide a terrific opportunity for others to follow his lead.
England's have been pretty feeble for a long time, and Hussain's resignation suggests that he knows the team needs to be rebuilt, and rebuilt urgently.