Head Coach Charlotte Edwards says she knew her job would "not be a quick fix" and things "won't change overnight" after England suffered a disappointing 125-run defeat by South Africa in the World Cup semi-finals. The former England captain took over the role in April following the sacking of Jon Lewis, inheriting a side reeling from a group-stage exit at the 2024 T20 World Cup and a 16-0 Ashes drubbing in Australia. She had a mixed first home summer, overseeing comprehensive victories over West Indies before suffering consecutive series defeats against India, but headed into the World Cup with a clear objective: reaching the semi-finals was her minimum expectation. England achieved that goal fairly comfortably, finishing second in the group stage while only losing to Australia. However, when it came to their must-win knockout match, they stumbled against a South Africa side they would have expected to beat - and missed out on the final for the first time since 2013.

"I came into this role knowing it would not change overnight," Edwards told Sky Sports. "We have performed well under pressure and some moments we have not seized. Overall, we are making progress but you are defined on your results. We all hoped we could make the final. I don't like losing but I knew what I took on and it would not be a quick fix."

Edwards, 45, has not shied away from making changes during her first six months at the helm. Some, like the return of spinner Linsey Smith - whose 12 wickets put her second only to Sophie Ecclestone among England players at the tournament - have worked. Others, like dropping veteran bowler Kate Cross midway through the summer, playing standout domestic opener Emma Lamb in the middle order where she struggled (36 runs in five innings), and sticking with out of form batter Sophia Dunkley (68 runs), have been less well received. While acknowledging that "hindsight is a wonderful thing", Edwards said this disappointment has made her "more hungry" to develop the England side, with her attention already turning to next summer's T20 World Cup on home soil.

"I am more hungry now to work with these players over the winter and hopefully we can do that," Edwards said. "We need to focus on the T20 World Cup from December to March and players will be training for that. Hopefully these players can learn to deal with these situations better. We have a performance programme and are targeting 13-15 players who we want for that. It is exciting now. We have a new group of players and talent coming through. It is going to be a sad dressing room. There is nothing you can do to make things better. Life moves on pretty quickly. I am hurting too."

To look purely at the scorecard, England were thumped by South Africa. They were made to rue electing to bowl, with the Proteas, led by Laura Wolvaardt's superb 169, piling on 319-7. It left England requiring their highest successful women's ODI chase - and the second highest in World Cup history after Australia's 331 against India - to reach the final. Instead, they collapsed to 1-3 inside seven balls and were bowled out for 194 with 45 balls to spare.

However, former England spinner and 2017 World Cup winner Alex Hartley said Edwards's side did not do much wrong in Guwahati. They were simply "outplayed" by South Africa and punished for an expensive final 10 overs with the ball - during which the Proteas smashed 117 runs - before England's top order collapsed.

"I'm not going to come out and slate the team. I don't think England did get much wrong," Hartley told BBC Test Match Special. "When you compare the scores at the halfway stage of both innings, England were pretty much neck and neck, just England had lost more wickets. I don't think they did much wrong. They didn't drop loads of catches, they didn't have loads of misfields, they didn't bowl loads of wides or loads of slot balls. What they could have done is go to a wide plan a little bit earlier, especially to Laura Wolvaardt, and try to make her change her game, rather than bowl on leg stump [so] she was able to hit into the leg side. Being knocked out of a World Cup and being outplayed - sometimes you've got to hold your hands up and say we weren't good enough."