BRIDGETOWN, April 18: Captain Michael Vaughan said England had deserved to be booed off after a crushing nine-wicket defeat by South Africa knocked them out of the World Cup on Tuesday.

Vaughan, 32, said he would not be retiring from one-day internationals but that others would decide if he kept the captaincy. He also said he was unaware if coach Duncan Fletcher was considering quitting.

“It is a very sad day for English cricket. It's a horrible feeling to have walked off the park in Barbados and get booed by a lot of England supporters and rightfully so from the performance we've put in,” Vaughan told a news conference after the defeat in the Super Eights match.

“I fully understand why they have given us that sort of reception. We have to hold our hands up and accept all the criticism that comes our way.”

South Africa medium pacer Andrew Hall took five wickets to help dismiss England for 154 before Graeme Smith hit an unbeaten 89 to lead his side to victory in just 19.2 overs.

England have struggled all tournament with Bangladesh the only Test team they beat. The side arrived in the Caribbean on the back of a 5-0 mauling by Australia in the Ashes Test series.

“There needs to be a lot of honesty. We as an England team have had a very disappointing six months. I firmly believed we'd do a lot better than we have,” added Vaughan, who has been in poor batting form.

“I won't be retiring from one-day cricket. But I'm not stupid to think it's not going to be an area of concern.

“The most important thing is that we have to get English cricket back on track.”

After contesting the 1992 final, in which they were beaten by Pakistan, England have failed to reach the semis in any of the four subsequent World Cups.—Reuters