London: Dennis Amiss, an England stalwart and a member of the elite 100 first-class centuries' club, spoke to The Telegraph in Birmingham on Thursday evening.

Amiss took to administration after retirement and served as chief executive of the Edgbaston-headquartered Warwickshire County Cricket Club for 12 years.

"I've had a long innings in cricket," Amiss, 74, quipped.

Excerpts...

Q We'll talk of the Champions Trophy finalists later... You must be very disappointed with the manner in which England lost to Pakistan in their semi-final...

A Very disappointed, indeed... I don't know what went wrong, but we just didn't bat well. They can talk of the wicket and so on, but our batting line-up was good enough to adapt. Pakistan batted on the same surface, but it seemed their innings was on a different wicket. They made it look easy. We had the depth, the talent and had probably been the odds-on favourites to take the trophy.

How would you sum up England's performance in Cardiff?

Lacklustre... Today, we have players to dominate across formats, but we just didn't get it right in the semi-final... It's not the end of the world, though, and we don't have to change personnel. Drastic measures aren't required... Maybe, it's a wake-up call which was needed.

Your thoughts on Sunday's India vs Pakistan final...

Many would have backed India to make the final, for they're such a good team, but nobody would have expected an All-Asia final... In England, we hadn't heard of so many in the Pakistan squad... We knew about (captain) Sarfraz Ahmed and Mohammed Aamir and one or two more. That's it. Now, many have made an impression. It's a surprise that Pakistan have come through, as they'd been thrashed by India in the opening match for both teams... People were saying they weren't hitting the straps early, but they're in the final. That won't change.

So, is it about peaking at the right time?

That would be one way of explaining Pakistan's progress, having bounced back after a hammering.

Perhaps, one could draw a parallel with Pakistan's dramatic surge in the 1992 World Cup...

Possibly.

Who would you be putting your pounds on in the final?

I've been very impressed with India... Very good batsmen, with their captain (Virat Kohli) leading the way... Good bowlers and they're pretty good in the field as well... Virat, I must add, is the world's best batsman across formats. He didn't disappoint me in the semi-final... India appear to be the favourites, as they are more experienced, but I wouldn't underestimate Pakistan... Underestimate them at your peril.

Bangladesh made the semi-finals of a global competition for the first time, so they aren't returning home empty handed...

They played marvellous cricket... The investment made by the International Cricket Council in the 1990s is paying off as they're getting better and better.

One more... Biggest disappointment?

England for sure... After that would be South Africa, who just can't get across a certain line in the biggest events.