Since it dawned on England that they had been invited to a tea-party in South Africa next year – and that they'd better get round to baking a cake – they have been very busy little chefs indeed. Marco Pierre Fletcher has selected 23 different ingredients – a dollop of Flintoff here, a suspicion of Sidebottom there – and mixed them up in 15 different melting pots; a gentle simmering in Bulawayo, a dry roasting in Bombay. At Trent Bridge against Sri Lanka, England looked to be approaching the perfect blend. Today at Lord's, the chefs got too fancy for their own good, and the cake got somewhat spoilt.

This was a thrilling match with all the twists and turns and ebbs and flows of a five-day Test, but it shouldn't have been. On a track as flat as this, and after the start England had been given by Marcus Trescothick, to post just 68 runs in their last 15 overs was a dereliction of duty. For India, it was a fitting return to Lord's, where they have not played a one-day match since their 1983 World Cup victory, but for England, it was time to return to the cook-book.

Everyone said in advance that this was going to be a tournament dominated by the bat, because you can't confront the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Mahela Jayawardene with rookie attacks and expect anything less than carnage. England, however, made the fatal error of believing this advance publicity – and in their haste, they tried to ice their cake before it had had time to cool.

England's batting order is the subject of daily speculation at the best of times, but Nasser Hussain's uncharacteristic outburst during a BBC interview last week revealed just how touchy the subject is. Hussain, it is fair to say, is not the most natural one-day batsman in the side, but he is no slouch either, and after England's robotic demise in the 1999 World Cup, he is more than worth his place for his proactive captaincy.

But his innings today, a worthy 54 off a not-outrageous 82 balls, was undermined by a subconscious need to get a move on, and the fact that Zamzamah himself had already been and gone cannot have helped him settle.

Andrew Flintoff's promotion to No.4 was not an unmitigated disaster – but a run-a-ball 20 at the halfway point of the innings is traditionally achieved by nurdling rather than biffing. England have not made such advances in the last eight months that they can afford to buck the trend, but in attempting to do so, they ruined much of their good work. Where at Trent Bridge, Flintoff strode to the wicket with 10 overs to go, today that dubious honour fell to Ronnie Irani.

Of course, by leaving Flintoff further down the order, there is the danger that he might not get in. But then, that is the beauty of having wickets in hand – it allows the men at the crease to play their natural, uninhibited game. And while Freddie belts the ball mighty hard, it's a bit harsh on the likes of Graham Thorpe and Paul Collingwood to be seen as mere hors d'oeuvres – a four is a four and a six is a six, no matter how many miles over the ropes it sails, but a finely-judged single is an art form that Flintoff has not yet mastered.

But, even in defeat, England can take several positives forward to Tuesday's match at Headingley. Not least of these is their sudden penchant for spectacular catches – who could imagine Alan Mullally taking the sort of blinder that James Kirtley pulled off today?

Andrew Miller is editorial assistant of Wisden.com

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd