Although it is a risky business talking about bookmakers in conjunction with cricket at the moment, it would be no great surprise if one or two lengthened their odds about England retaining the Ashes following a very moderate day's work against Bangladesh on Friday.
But if there was a saving grace it came in the shape of Steven Finn, playing his first Test on home soil and providing the only wicket to fall to an England bowler as
When Jonathan Trott reached his 150 most stood to applaud him. But this was no spontaneous, exuberant clapping, it was dutifully appreciative - as though they had just listened to a speech from the Lord Mayor at a summer fete.
And yet Trott's achievement on the opening day of the first Test of the summer was significant. After the best possible start to a Test career - a century on debut in an Ashes decider, no less - there had followed an awkward comedown featuring six Tests in South Africa and Bangladesh with a top score of 69.
Never again will we wonder why Geoff Boycott and Mike Brearley opened the batting in the 1979 World Cup, nor why Mike Gatting tried to reverse-sweep Allan Border in the 1987 edition. The lbw decision that Derek Pringle never got against Javed Miandad in 1992 can be forgotten about, and so too can Ian Bradshaw and Courtney Browne's remarkable ninth-wicket stand that took the Windies home at The Oval in 2004.
After three failures in World Cup finals, and one in the Champions Trophy final, England And here are my marks out of 10, based on performances across the whole tournament, for the heroes of the hour.
The victorious England team celebrate their World Twenty20 win. Photo AP
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After the solemn realisation at the age of 12 that I might not be good enough to play cricket for England I decided that the next best thing, writing about cricket, would have to suffice as a career. That's what I've been doing for the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport website since 2001, in which time the sport has changed immensely. You can also follow me on .
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