England tactics are worrying for the rest of the WC

I know, I know, England won. And it's not fashionable to criticise a winning team. But I'm afraid I can't help it.

Strauss seems to have a happy knack of turning to the right bowler at the right time, but for the most part I hate his defensive field placings. When South Africa were 7 down he allowed Van Wyk and Steyn to knock the ball around without pressure with a deep field. England had to take wickets - a ring field assumed the only way to get wickets was through a huge batting error, hitting the ball in the air, apart from bowled and LBW.

This Cricinfo piece suggests that Strauss did a good job as captain but his fields drove me quietly insane! When Swann bowled his 10th over - one that England desperately needed a wicket in, there was just the slip and backward short-leg - where was the forward short-leg and silly point?

And when Broad bowled the match-changing 48th over of the South African innings, there wasn't a catcher in site - as Prior took the catch to win the game there was no lone slip next to him, let alone two - what if the edge had been a little thicker?

It seems only Dhoni and Sangakkara in world cricket are advocates of attacking captaincy and backing their bowlers....of course I want England to win the World Cup but assuming they don't, it would be nice to see an attacking captain win rather than one of the conservative camp, which Strauss, sadly for England, definitely falls into. He won't always get so lucky.

P.S. The best England team is still the one that hasn't been played yet, that I put forward at the start of the World Cup...hopefully England will get to it eventually.