ICC Champions Trophy 2017: Eoin Morgan laments a lack of home advantage as England crash out in Cardiff

Morgan stopped short of criticising the surface but was less than impressed

Morgan stopped short of criticising the surface (Getty)

Eoin Morgan lamented the lack of home advantage afforded to his England team in Cardiff after they crashed out of the Champions Trophy following a shock semi-final defeat to Pakistan.

The visitors may be the lowest-ranked team in the tournament but they took full advantage of a sluggish used pitch at Sophia Gardens to seal a thumping eight-wicket victory against the tournament hosts and favourites.

England, simply unable to adapt to a surface that did not favour their ultra-aggressive batting approach, were bowled out for 211.

The chase was never in doubt as Pakistan, who played on the same pitch two days previously in their final group match against Sri Lanka, reached their target with 77 balls to spare.

Morgan stopped short of criticising the surface. But England’s captain did say: “I don’t think there was any home advantage.

“We knew we were going to play on a used wicket at some stage in this tournament, and certainly we found out the other day that today was going to be on a used wicket. And having watched Pakistan’s game against Sri Lanka, we actually didn’t think it was that bad.

“But certainly today it was. Coming from our match against Australia at Edgbaston [on Saturday], it was obviously a big jump in pace and bounce and too much of an ask for us to adjust to really.

“I felt like we were trying to take a positive option against them, but obviously, given the conditions, it didn’t allow us to do that.”

England were the overwhelming favourites to win the semi-final (Getty)

Morgan did not absolve his team of blame, adding: “We left ourselves short adapting to conditions. It’s a big frustration because I think we’ve played some great cricket in this tournament so far, and we weren’t anywhere close to it today.

“I think, going into this game knowing that we were going to play on a used wicket potentially brought Pakistan’s game closer to their home. So it was a big challenge and one that was too far for us. Fair credit to Pakistan. They played brilliantly.”

Asked why Pakistan did not struggle during their run chase, Morgan said: “I think the explanation is they played two days ago on it.”

Pakistan had already played at the ground this tournament (Getty)

And questioned on whether hosts of future tournaments should be offered more home advantage by the International Cricket Council, Morgan replied: “I think it depends on what the ICC want to get out of the tournament. If they want it to be completely neutral ground and bring all the teams into the tournament have no home advantage, I would keep it the same way.”

The next major world tournament is the 2019 World Cup, also hosted in England.

Morgan believes his side, who had won all three of their group matches heading into this semi-final, will have learned valuable lessons from this campaign as they look to again win their first major 50-over title in two years’ time.

He said: “We’ve stayed true to what we believe in and what’s worked for us the last couple of years, and I think that’s the continued formula for the future.

“I think we will have to evolve over the next two years in the lead-in to the World Cup, but we’re moving in the right direction.”