Vaas enjoyed a good one-day series

It is no crime to struggle on slow, turning pitches against spin bowlers used to such conditions - and in Muttiah Muralitharan, the Sri Lankans possessed a spinner who not only turned the ball sharply, but proved wonderfully economical.

Chaminda Vaas, their left-arm swing bowler, was also reliably penetrative.

But England's batsmen lacked one-day nous.

They failed to rotate the strike, to capitalise on left-hand/right-hand partnerships, to work the ball into the gaps and to keep wickets in hand until the final thrash in the closing overs.

At no stage did they build major stands or dominate the bowlers, so that they left little to defend for their own bowlers against confident batsmen relishing familiar wickets.

Darren Gough, heroic during the Test series, needed greater support from the batsmen and more runs to bowl at.

The fielding was also uninspired in certain key areas, compared to the highly motivated Sri Lankans, who looked committed to revenge after losing the Test series.

It would be ill-advised to consign this one-day series defeat to the waste bin of history, because England need to start planning now for the World Cup, due to be staged in South Africa in two years' time.

England's batsmen struggled

Fletcher and Hussain must identify the players to get them through the campaign and stick with them.

Key players such as Alec Stewart, Graeme Hick, Darren Gough, Andy Caddick, Graham Thorpe, Nick Knight and the captain himself are all in their thirties - which of those will still be in the frame for the next World Cup?

A batting strategy must be hammered out, players need to be identified who will bat intelligently at key stages in the innings, and a key figure in the middle order of the class of Australia's Michael Bevan would be a godsend.

More mobility in the field would also help.

The problem is unearthing such players from the mediocrity that is English county cricket.

Fletcher and Hussain can only take soundings from advisors that they trust, then rely on their own instincts.

Errors in selection will be made, time will be taken up in sticking loyally with players who eventually fail them - but a country that brought one-day cricket to the world forty years ago must get up to speed.

England have been an abject disappointment in the last two World Cups and they need more practical experience in the evolving, modern demands of one-day cricket.

England were left exhausted

Stand by for more involvement by England in one-day tournaments they used to spurn.

That is the only way they can develop greater expertise, to lay the foundations for success in the next World Cup.

Significantly, the Sri Lankans fly to Sharjah next week for yet another one-day tournament.

Six of their players have appeared in over a hundred one-day internationals, compared to two in England's squad - Stewart and Hick.

I know which of the two countries has a better chance of lifting the next World Cup at this juncture.