U19 heartbreak doesn't take gloss off England's recent golden run
England currently hold two major ICC trophies at their disposal and their runners up finish to India at the ICC Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup has done nothing to take the shine off their recent performances.
2019 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup - Winners
It all started on home soil for England as they prevailed in the Men's Cricket World Cup on home soil with a thrilling victory over New Zealand in one of the most memorable finals of all time.
England lost just three times during the nine-match group stage to qualify for the knockout stages in third position and Eoin Morgan and Joe Root were clinical in the semi-final as they combined for an unbeaten partnership of 79 at Edgbaston to ease past Australia in style.
No one could have predicted what lay ahead in the final against New Zealand, with England sending their fans into raptures by winning their first 50-over World Cup title courtesy of scoring more boundaries than their opponents.
2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup - Eliminated in semi-finals
England can consider themselves somewhat unlucky they didn't make it further than the semi-finals at the seventh edition of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup in Australia as heavy rain in Sydney saw their cut-throat final four contest against India at the SCG abandoned without a ball even bowled.
It was a shame for Heather Knight's talented side, who had shown glimpses of their best during the group stages of the event on the back of a bulk of runs from talented all-rounder Nat Sciver and Knight herself.
Knight hit an unbeaten 108* against Thailand and Sciver contributed three half-centuries and England had plenty of momentum heading into the semis and would have been confident of toppling India and getting a chance against hosts Australia in the final.
2022 ICC Men’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup - Runners up
It was another case of what could have been for England at the 14th edition of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in the West Indies as they were narrowly beaten by India by four wickets in a tight final at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.
It was the only match that England lost during the tournament as Tom Prest scored a bulk of runs (292) and Joshua Boyden (15) took plenty of wickets and a host of future stars were discovered.
The tournament also unearthed talented leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, who claimed 12 wickets at the event and then became the youngest man to play Test cricket for England later in the year when he made his Test debut at 18 years and 126 days old against Pakistan in Karachi.
2022 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup - Runners up
It was a case of so near, yet so far, for England in New Zealand as Heather Knight's squad went on an excellent winning run of five straight matches before falling in the final to champions Australia.
England's hopes of defending the title they won on home soil in 2017 looked forlorn when they dropped their opening three matches of the group stage to Australia, the West Indies and South Africa, but they found form at the pointy end of the tournament to cruise past the Proteas in the semis on the back of a magnificent 129 from Danni Wyatt.
It was Australia and Alyssa Healy that proved too much in the decider, with a superb century from Nat Sciver in vain as England were forced to settle for the runners up tag for the fourth time.
2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup - Winner (second title)
Perhaps England's most clinical performance of the lot came in Australia last year as Jos Buttler's side claimed a second ICC Men's T20 World Cup title in style by defeating a gallant Pakistan side in front of 90,000 fans at the MCG.
England suffered a massive scare earlier in the tournament when they fell to a worrying five-run (DLS method) loss to Ireland, but that effort seemed to jolt them into action as they dispatched of India by a whopping 10 wickets in an emphatic semi-final showing and then backed that up in the decider against Pakistan.
While Buttler won plenty of his heroics for his standout performances with the bat and as captain, it was Sam Curran that impressed most as the underrated all-rounder claimed the Player of the Tournament award for his 13 wickets at a miserly average of 11.38.
2023 ICC Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup - Runners up
Another ICC event and yet another eye-catching England performance on the back of the strong leadership of a talented batter at the top of the order.
This time around it was Grace Scrivens that led England to a second-placed finish at the Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup as the inspirational 19-year-old contributed 293 runs with the bat and nine wickets with the ball to deservedly claim the award for the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
Despite an unbeaten run heading into the final, England were undone by India in a one-sided title decider to wrap up yet another strong tournament from the European side.
