England Test captain Alastair Cook has admitted that the team's confidence has been shattered by their failures over the last few months.
A summer Test series success at home to India last year appeared to raise optimism around the international set-up, but England endured a difficult build-up to the World Cup before suffering an ignominious exit in the group stages of the tournament itself.
The team will now turn their attention to the upcoming Test series with West Indies, and Cook acknowledged that he has a "repairing job" on his hands.
"It was in a good place. I wouldn't say all of [the confidence] has been [shattered], but a hell of a lot of it has been," the 30-year-old batsman told the Daily Telegraph.
"We have a repairing job to do ... we built that momentum a little bit after the Ashes 14 or 15 months ago with a slightly younger side, including the likes of Gary Ballance and Joe Root.
"There was a good feel-good factor about the English game in the middle of August after the Test matches. Since then, it's been tough going. We've got to rebuild again."
Cook also claimed that the selectors were wrong to sack him as ODI captain so soon before the World Cup and insisted that a return to the national team for Kevin Pietersen was "very unlikely".
Barney Corkhill
