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Is it a particularly English trait for any sporting failure to lead, in no time at all, to a ridiculously hysterical reaction?
Feel free to point out the error of the English team’s ways and given the paucity of their World Cup efforts, the majority of accusations won’t be too far off the mark.
Yet while it took less than the length of an Eoin Morgan duck for the recriminatory spiel to start to pour out, England’s limited over woes aren’t simply a few sackings away from resolution.
World Cup underachievement has been an issue for the past half a dozen tournaments so to throw accusatory comments in the direction of the current batch is to miss the point somewhat.
There can be little doubt that the past three weeks has been close to as bad as it gets for an English ODI outfit, but the most recent blow is the one felt most keenly.
For example, a stronger side went to the sub-continent in 2011 and exited with barely a whimper – but that is all but forgotten as Peter Moores, Ian Bell et all are lined up in the crosshairs.
Calls for widespread revolution and change surface after every Ashes defeat, World T20 ignominy and World Cup reverse, so discard the extreme views and look somewhere in the guts of the argument to find any sensible reasoning.
The most obvious weakness of England’s doomed campaign, putting aside selections, personnel and scheduling for the minute, is the game they are playing.
I offered the opinion not too long ago that Glenn Maxwell will continue to struggle in Test cricket, should he get the chance to play again, because he doesn’t give himself the best opportunity to succeed.
This may be of little relevance in the greater scheme of things but England hampered their efforts to progress in the tournament by employing a game-plan that is old hat.
Compare England’s modus operandi to that of the two host nations, South Africa, India and, depressingly, Ireland, and you’re looking at different lyrics being sung to the same tune.
Unfortunately, only one of them actually makes music.
There are reasons for this. The counties in this country reluctantly play the 50-over game, ignoring the all-too apparent fact that if the national team are expected to play the format then surely it makes sense for the supply chain to do the same.
Also, the inherent conservatism that runs through English sport in general is difficult to shake off. One only has to see how Alex Hales – the most destructive player this country has got alongside Jos Buttler – is viewed. That isn’t necessarily a criticism, just that old habits, and certainly in this narrow field, die extremely hard.
Now on to the aforementioned factors.
By and large England selected their best players (big punts on untried talent was never going to happen, see two paragraphs above) but with no discernible plan.
Sacking the captain only a few weeks before the competition showed signs of panic, but what followed made that appear to be a masterstroke.
Gary Ballance usurping the improving James Taylor at number three made little sense and sticking with a side going nowhere until the fifth game reeked of being stubborn for the sake of being stubborn.
Add to this batting first at the MCG in their opening fixture, and against Bangladesh come to think of it, an indication that both confidence and belief was lacking.
The squeezing together of two Ashes series may have been made with good intentions but there had to be some kind of planning running concurrently if it wasn’t to go completely to waste. You can guess the rest.
It stands to reason that Moores will be skating on very thin ice as a second go at the top job has to show signs of improvement which haven’t materialised but even if he is given his marching orders don’t expect wholesale alterations.
What is clear is a need for a radical change in approach to the 50-over game and an acknowledgement that if success on the world stage is to be desired, giving ODIs the necessary attention for a couple of months every four years just won’t wash.
To reference Maxwell a second time, England, as a cricketing nation, have the ability to play ODI cricket, but it needs to be harnessed in a far more effective manner.