England's squad of 17 players, two guides, a coach, manager and physio flew off to Chennai at the end of November. The squad had high hopes of doing well in the six nation tournament, although few people outside the squad gave us much chance of progressing beyond the group stages.

After a few days of acclimatising to the heat and humidity and gaining the stomach for the curry, we opened our campaign with two tough matches in two days.

Our first game saw us soundly thrashed by a rampant South African side who were intent on retaining the title that they won in Delhi four years previously. The Indian press went to town on coverage of the world cup. Our performance earned us the label of 'hapless England' and we were likened to Nasser Hussain's mob in Australia.

Professional sportsmen and women must get used to reading about themselves in the press. But for us this was an entirely new experience. The criticism in the Hindu Times stung and made us more determined to beat the tournament hosts and some people's favourites to take the trophy, India.

With a noisy crowd anticipating an easy home win, India's captain Ramkaran Sharma got them off to a great start with a flourish of runs. Sharma's innings was brought to an end by a stunning catch from Peter Mckelvaney. A couple of overs later, Mckelvaney followed up his catch by hitting the stumps from the boundary to bring about the second Indian wicket.

India were not perturbed by the loss of two quick wickets and thanks to an undefeated century from Sushil Gourd, they reached 319 for 5 from their 40 overs. Good bowling performances from Tim Guttridge and a rare good spell from the captain meant that the Indians' total, whilst being respectable, was not out of reach for the England team.

Enter Nathan Foy. Nathan is a B1 player who has emerged as a force to be reckoned with in domestic cricket over the last couple of years. Nathan's awesome fielding in the deep, together with his steady bowling and anything but steady batting, placed a burden of expectation upon his shoulders in the world cup.

In only his second game for his country, Nathan destroyed the Indian attack and hit 152 not out from 131 balls. Nathan's score was the highest score ever hit by a totally blind player, and his innings was described as 'stellar' by the world renowned Cricinfo website commentators.

Foy, ably supported by Heindrich Swanepoel (68) and Guttridge (36 not out) steered England to victory with nearly four overs to spare.

We had beaten the hosts, silenced the crowds and discarded the 'hapless' label. This hard-fought victory put the squad in great spirits prior to the eagerly awaited 'Ashes' clash with the Aussies.

Interest in the England v Australia game could not have been greater. Myself and the Australian captain, Peter Nobeer, were interviewed live on Radio 5, with Nobeer being keen on talking about the Ashes but being strangely reluctant to talk about rugby union. Bragging rights, not to mention standing in the world cup qualifying group, were at stake in this game. England were so confident that we believed that only the weather could stop us beating the Aussies.

And that is exactly what happened. On the morning of the game, players awoke to the sight and sound of an Asian cyclone. Rain ruined the day and forced the abandonment of the game after only one ball had been bowled. It was a great ball, bowled by England's new star, Andy Dalby Walsh. Ray Moxley, the Aussie opener, looked in all sorts of trouble, edging the ball to square leg for a single.

England's next game was against Pakistan. Pakistan were beaten finalists in the first world cup, and victories since, against South Africa and ourselves had meant that they were many peoples' favourites to win the world cup.

England lost the toss and were put in to bat. England's position looked perilous as Swanepoel and Geoff Smith were out early on. But the scene was set for the partnership of the world cup. Nathan Foy was joined by Tim Guttridge. Together, Nathan and Tim rewrote the record books in a scintillating stand of 248 from only 21 overs. Nathan crashed the ball to all parts of the ground in the process of hitting a staggering 232 from only 125 balls. Tim played his part by getting a well earned century.

England closed on 432 for 5 from 40 overs - the highest score ever made in world cup cricket. Pakistan made a valiant effort at getting this total, but they were never quite up with the run rate, finishing on 373 for 7. This victory put us top of the qualifying group and sealed our place in the semi-finals.

John Barclay, former Sussex captain and opening bat, and former manager of the full England team and various 'A' teams, managed our tour. Barclay was particularly delighted with our victory against Pakistan, declaring it the first time that any team he had been involved with had ever beaten a Pakistan side.

Our semi-final slot sealed, we proceeded to lose to Sri Lanka in the final group game. This was somewhat of a disappointment, but what was more disappointing was the loss of Mark Pickup through injury. Mark top scored against Sri Lanka, making a well earned half-century.

The semi-final lineup pitted South Africa against Australia (who had finished below England in the group table!), and England against Pakistan.

Our semi-final commenced with a flurry of runs for Pakistan. Tariq Samuel, Pakistan's opening batsman and wicket-keeper, smashed 76 from 51 balls. Samuel treated all of England's bowlers with disdain, driving the ball powerfully to all parts of the ground. Samuel was eventually bowled by Guttridge, but Pakistan's momentum was maintained by the player who always fills his boots against England, Ashraf Bhatti.

Pakistan closed their innings on 393 for 8 from 40 overs. This total was impressive, but as the group game between the two sides had shown, it was potentially not beyond England's reach.

England's innings started disastrously, however. Heindrich was caught first ball. On the fall of our second wicket, the scene was again set for Nathan and Tim to turn the game in our favour. Anything looked possible as the pair took the score towards the hundred mark. But disaster struck as Nathan was bowled for 40. Guttridge then proceeded towards his second century of the tournament, in the process putting on a century stand with the captain, who played the supporting role.

England's chances effectively ended, however, when Tim was bowled having scored 104 from 64 balls. Despite good contributions from John Prashar and Peter Mckelvaney, England went down fighting, and were all out for 282.

Of course we were devastated, but on reflection we can be proud of ourselves for reaching the semi-finals for the first time, and losing to the eventual winners of the tournament. Pakistan convincingly beat South Africa in the final, with Bhatti again playing a central role in the Asian side's victory.

The final bonuses for England came in the closing ceremony. Tim Guttridge was named B1 player of the tournament, and Nathan Foy was given the accolade of overall player of the tournament, for which he receives some fancy computer equipment and the admiration of his team-mates.

Being involved in the world cup was a tremendous experience. The tournament was well organised and we were made welcome wherever we went, except perhaps in the bar on the last night. As captain of the team, my job was made easy thanks to the tremendous support of coach Andy Sellins, manager John Barclay, physio Owen Robinson and sighted guides, 'blind Keith' and 'dirty Keith'. The whole squad of players should take great credit in England's success in the world cup, and have provided us with a great platform on which to build for the future.

Next stop for some members of the England team was Barbados, to help the West Indies develop blind cricket structures and coaching. It is a hard life…