England cut contrasting figures as end of an era looms for golden generation

Five-and-a-half years separated England's T20 World Cup defeats to West Indies and New Zealand in Kolkata and Abu Dhabi, respectively, but in one sense, nothing had changed. Both times, they scrapped up to par after losing an important toss. Both times, they took early wickets to make themselves clear favourites. Both times, their hard work was undone by a flurry of missed yorkers flying over midwicket for six at the death.

But their players' reactions after Daryl Mitchell hacked Chris Woakes' full-toss away for four revealed a difference. Whereas in 2016, England's players were distraught, unable to comprehend the manner of their defeat, there was a sense of acceptance on Wednesday night. There were grimaces, head scratches and thousand-yard stares, but no Ben Stokes in tears on his haunches.

Therein lies a contrast between the two Englands. Against West Indies, Liam Plunkett was the oldest player in their side at the age of 30; against New Zealand, Liam Livingstone was the youngest at 28. Against West Indies, Eoin Morgan was the only one to have played a game of IPL cricket; against New Zealand, all 11 had. The 2016 squad was encouraged to embrace their combination of "a little bit of naivety with a huge amount of talent" by Morgan, but this squad was battle-hardened.

The result is that this feels like a missed opportunity for England. There are mitigating circumstances: they were missing five first-choice squad members on Wednesday night - Jofra Archer, Sam Curran, Tymal Mills, Jason Roy and Stokes - and after fine margins fell their way in the 50-over final two years ago, they went against them this time around.

But the generation that spearheaded their white-ball revolution will not carry on together forever. Perhaps more pertinently, there will be few World Cups in either format over the next few years in which India perform quite as poorly; England were on the right side of the draw but failed to capitalise.

The age profile of England's side - in which everyone was between 28 and 35 - is not a problem in itself, not least given Archer and Curran's absences. The experience of Chennai Super Kings' 'Dad's Army' squad was cited as the reason for their IPL wins in 2018 and 2021, but also for their seventh-placed finish in 2020. "It's interesting how the narrative can change really quick," Aaron Finch, Australia's captain, said this week. "Ten days ago our team was too old; now, we're an experienced team."

There is no shortage of talent among England's young players. Kane Williamson hailed the depth which he saw first-hand as a mentor at Birmingham Phoenix in the Hundred this year while their second-string side thrashed Pakistan 3-0 in an ODI series in July, even as uncapped English players are sought-after in the free markets of the Big Bash, the PSL and the Abu Dhabi T10.

But the relentless schedule of upcoming World Cups means that there is no natural end point for this era, and England will need to manage their transition. The decision to axe Plunkett after 2019 was controversial but has been vindicated, while the timing of similarly ruthless calls will be vital with World Cups in each of the next three years: T20I in 2022 and 2024, and ODI in 2023.

England gave opportunities to a group of young players on their tour to New Zealand two years ago but only Curran has broken into the first-choice squad, with Tom Banton and Pat Brown's development stagnating due to injuries and loss of form. They have another opportunity to experiment in Barbados in January, when they play five T20Is in nine days against a West Indies side going through its own evolutionary phase, and must not waste it.

Their white-ball specialists should be available for that tour but their multi-format ones will be on Ashes duty. That creates a chance for Harry Brook and Will Jacks to win caps, while the group of players aged 24 or 25 - Joe Clarke, George Garton, Saqib Mahmood, Matt Parkinson and Phil Salt - can prove that they have benefitted from exposure to England environments or long winters on the franchise circuit. It took four years and over 100 domestic T20 appearances after his second T20I appearance for Livingstone to win a third cap; the bar to break into the first team is high.

England must consider too whether it is sustainable for players to be regulars across formats. Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Dawid Malan, Woakes and Mark Wood will all fly to Australia for an Ashes tour this weekend, and have all been pushed to breaking point by England's schedule: four of them withdrew from the second half of the IPL - Buttler due to paternity leave - and the other, Wood, had pulled out of the auction altogether. Bubbles have exacerbated the problem, but England's fixture list will remain a gruelling treadmill long after they have been burst.

The elephant in the room is Morgan's own future. He reiterated his intentions to continue as England's white-ball captain until next year's T20 World Cup after Wednesday night's defeat, but his form this year - an average of 17.71 and a strike rate of 118.61 - has been wretched. It is by no means impossible that he will come good again - his career-best run in 2019-20, when he was hitting a six every 9.9 balls in T20 cricket, has quickly been forgotten - but at 35, it is hardly guaranteed.

He insisted he is "still offering enough within the side", but the sights of Adil Rashid frantically drying a soaking-wet ball in the 18th over and Woakes conceding his seventh six in three death overs this tournament suggested a rare off-night as captain. Morgan is the most powerful man in English limited-overs cricket and will be given the chance to bow out on his own terms. But semi-final defeats demand introspection: Morgan's own exit strategy will determine how long England's golden generation of white-ball players are able to cling on themselves.