England bow to Tendulkar's genius I Panesar finds nowhere to turn in India I Victory dedicated to Mumbai victims I Commentary: Simon Barnes I Analysis: Mike Atherton I Pietersen to blame for tactical disaster

On the fourth day the England cricket team set free the Henman within and the consequences were inevitable. With the loftiest prize almost within reach, they suffered an attack of diffidence and lost the initiative, the match and the chance to complete a task they had every right to finish.

Tim Henman was a marvellous tennis player, and I'll not hear a word against him unless I say it myself. But there were moments, in the course of his enthralling and protracted quest for greatness, when you could not ignore that tiny sprinkling of diffidence, that grain or two of embarrassment, that almost imperceptible lack of self-regard - and that made all the difference.

It was enough to make sure that Henman, for all his many qualities, never got beyond the semi-finals (six times) of a grand-slam tournament. And it was the same quality that left England the losers in a remarkable Test match yesterday.

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England set free the Henman within, the consequences were inevitable

Simon Barnes

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I am not about to excoriate England for a spineless performance - that would be absurd, it was nothing of the kind. It was just disappointing. The trouble with sporting partisanship is that breathless support can turn in an instant to baffled fury and a national week of scapegoat-hunting. Let's try to rise above that.

England played a full part in a marvellous Test and did many things that they can be proud of. Turning up at all was a triumph; to contrive such a brilliant match from such underprepared cricketers against a team as strong as India was a genuine achievement.

But it might have been better. There is no disgrace in being outplayed, not if you give it everything, but there was a brief period, scarcely more than a session, in which diffidence reigned, and in those three hours of self-consciousness England lost the match.

Disappointing, yes, especially because Kevin Pietersen, the England captain, is possibly the least submissive soul on the planet. Crackling with self-delight, buzzing with ambition to improve - his attitude, refreshingly un-English, has not spread through the team.

During the unforgettable Ashes series of 2005, most of the matches were closer than they might have been because of England's reluctance to jump on people once they had been knocked down. That trigger-freeze came close to costing them the series. It is an aspect of diffidence and a significant part of Henman's Syndrome.

The same thing was in evidence on the fourth day of the match just finished, when England needed to up the pace and make their opponents become fed up with cricket and chasing leather and to build, not only in the numbers but in the manner of the thing, a mighty score.

But instead they dillied, they dallied, dallied and they dillied, lost their way and didn't know where to roam. They patted back the half-volleys, nurdled the odd single and lost their intensity. Perhaps they thought that it was the only way to play on that pitch. If so, the amazing Virender Sehwag was of a different view.

Under the intensity of his assault, England wilted. That's a problem you can face when your strike force contains two fully paid-up members of the Sensitive Fast Bowlers' Union: Stephen Harmison, the Cowardly Lion, and James Anderson, who can talk like Marlene Dietrich and dance like Zizi Jeanmaire.

Both are wonderful performers on their day, but they're both hot'n'colders and they were both overcome when Sehwag turned his fury on them. Thus it was that England eased themselves out of this match, and if I've been a bit mean to the bowlers, forgive me, but it was a passage of play England might have dealt with better.

England gave us wonderful performances over so much of the match, the twisting and turning narrative kept us all enthralled right to the end, and if disappointment is inevitable, then it is also appropriate to thank both teams for giving us such a treat.

England did well, almost as well as they are capable of, and they fell fractionally short. Let's all deal with it, move on and hope that the second Test of this two-match “series”, starting on Friday, is half as good as the first. But there is a truth we must take away from this one: when England fail narrowly, in any sporting discipline, it tends to be because of the Henman within. Basically, the England cricket team lost a penalty shoot-out yesterday.

After four brilliant sets of oscillating advantage, England got bageled in the fifth. Alas, poor Tim: he plays no more, but his spirit will haunt us for ever.