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World T20 snapshots: Shambolic England face huge rebuilding operation
Humbled 5-0 in the Ashes and overwhelmed in the One-day series in Australia, England's dismal winter ended in total ignominy when they bowed out of the World Twenty20 with an embarrassing 45-run defeat by the Netherlands on Monday.
England have lost 20 out of 25 international matches since flying into Australia in October and their new coach, due to be appointed next month, faces a huge task to restore morale and build a new team in all formats of the game.
"What a shambolic end to a shambolic performance to end a shambolic winter," former England fast bowler Jonathan Agnew told the BBC.
"English cricket is in the doldrums at the moment, that's an understatement."
Ashley Giles is the favourite to succeed Andy Flower as England head coach but since he was the man who oversaw the faltering World Twenty20 campaign in Bangladesh there must be serious doubts about his suitability for the role.
He was at a loss to explain the woeful performance against the Netherlands in which England hit only four boundaries and were bowled out for 88 chasing 134 for victory.
Whoever takes the reins must cope without batsman Kevin Pietersen and spinner Graeme Swann, two of the mainstays of a successful era for English cricket whose international careers are now over.
The future of Jonathan Trott is also in doubt after the normally dependable number three batsman left the Ashes tour following the first test suffering from a stress-related illness.
Dutch captain proud to unfurl Associates flag
Netherlands' overwhelming World Twenty20 win against England on Monday was not just a proud moment for the Dutch but showcased the strength of associate cricket to the world, captain Peter Borren said.
The Dutch, who advanced to the super 10 stage through the qualifiers, bundled out England for 88 to hand their test playing opponents an embarrassing 45-run defeat in their final match in Chittagong.
Having themselves suffered the ignominy of being dismissed for a record low 39 against Sri Lanka a week ago, Borren was happy to have proved a point.
"I said that after we were bowled out for 39 against Sri Lanka. We are here representing all the associates," the all-rounder said.
"In the last three games we have done them proud and the last three games we have probably shown the strength of associate cricket."
Associate status for cricketing nations is the second tier of membership behind the 10 test-playing countries in the International Cricket Council.
"Tonight we were pretty much spot on for the whole innings with the ball and on the field. It was really nice way to finish the tournament," Borren said. "It was an achievement in itself for us to qualify for this stage.
"I think people back home will be pretty proud with our effort and we showed the cricketing world that we can play cricket."
After managing 133 for five in their 20 overs, Borren was not confident of repeating their win over England in the 2009 edition of the tournament.
"We sort of came into the second half of the game and thought we probably haven't got enough." he added.
"But I did ask the guys 'can we just put one last effort? We get on the plane tonight, can we leave everything out there?'
"We had some good plans and we executed them really well. I am really, really proud of the boys."
Irked McCullum wants New Zealand to change
New Zealand will return home for some serious soul searching and to discuss how they can finally win a limited-overs competition or next year's World Cup could end the same way as so many others, said captain Brendon McCullum.
McCullum's team were skittled out for 60 in their World Twenty20 match against Sri Lanka on Monday, a 59-run defeat ending their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals in Bangladesh.
New Zealand have been perennial underachievers in tournaments, making six semi-finals at World Cups but never reaching a final.
They have qualified for just one World Twenty20 semi-final and their only success was at the Champions Trophy in 2000.
McCullum suggested New Zealand could be in for another frustrating 50-over World Cup next year, an event they co-host with Australia, if his side do not learn from their failures in Bangladesh.
"I said right at the outset we would have to play really well here. We're not good enough to only play at 80 percent," the skipper told reporters in Chittagong.
"There are some things that irked me through the tournament and I'll be addressing those later. Something's going to have to change at some stage otherwise we'll keep turning up at tournaments, winning a couple, losing a couple and never claiming any silverware."