After weeks of controversy running up to the tournament, the ECB, under pressure from players and with the threat of a huge compensation bill from the sport's global governing body, the ICC, confirmed England would not play in Harare as a protest at the political regime in Zimbabwe.
As a result the ICC gave the match points to Zimbabwe - a handicap England never fully recovered from.
Said ECB chief executive Tim Lamb, speaking to the BBC: "The ECB management board met earlier in the week and went through the sequence of events and the general consensus was that it was difficult to see how we could have done anything different.
"But at the end of the day our decision not to send the players was borne out of our duty of care - imagine how we would have lived with ourselves if anything had happened in Harare."
Lamb also confirmed he was expecting to mount a strong defence case against an anticipated large compensation claim from the ICC's commercial partners, the Global Cricket Corporation.
Lamb added: "We believe we have a strong legal case and we will defend that - but it remains to be seen what sort of damages are claimed."
The management of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) say they have no regrets over the decision to boycott a Cricket World Cup game in Zimbabwe - despite the fact it cost England a first round exit.
