Top of the form

England's management had promised a new look, and a new approach: and a new result was delivered. England won, and won easily, with more than 17 overs to spare. It's too early to say that all in the garden is rosy - for a start, Michael Vaughan will want to win a game or two after batting first instead of second - but it was a refreshing change from the midsummer madness of the NatWest Series, when England lost out to basically the same New Zealand and West Indies sides that they dominated in the Test matches.

The difference today was in the bowling: England were always likely winners once India had been shot out for a below-par total of 170. They missed Sachin Tendulkar, perhaps more psychologically than anything else - they lacked that comforting feeling that all would be well while Sachin was still out there.

But a crucial factor for England was that their new players were brought in when in form. After some notable misses in the past - just call it the Wayne Larkins Factor - this year the selectors got the timing right in the first Test against West Indies with Robert Key, who came in in the form of his life and blistered 221 at Lord's. And they pulled it off again today, bringing in Vikram Solanki straight from a splendid century in the C&G Trophy final at Lord's on Saturday, and Alex Wharf after an amazing spell of 6 for 5 for Glamorgan against Kent on Sunday. (Oddly, both their efforts ended in defeat for their counties, but the point is that the players themselves were on the top of their form.)

We knew about Solanki, of course - last June he stroked a fine century against South Africa at The Oval, but failed to shine after that and eventually lost his place after mustering only 11 runs in three innings against Bangladesh. Today he played a fine innings of 52, steadying the nerves after the double loss of Marcus Trescothick and Vaughan. There were eight neat fours, the pick of them a stinging straight-drive that pinged back past Irfan Pathan, who was then pulled for back-to-back boundaries.

But the real surprise packet was Wharf, who looks more like a prop forward than a fast bowler, and a man who, like Gareth Batty, didn't catch the selectors' eyes until he'd joined his third county. Wharf is 29, and has moved westwards like a Klondike prospector, from Yorkshire to Nottinghamshire to Glamorgan, where he finally struck gold. He hits the deck and moves the ball a little, and today he must have thought that this international cricket was an easy lark, after grabbing a wicket in each of his first three overs. There will be days when he beats the bat and doesn't get the edge, but he should be hard to shift in this team for a while.

Wharf can bat, too, with the forthrightness and fitfulness of the early Flintoff. That may yet come in useful as England move from NatWest Challenging to Champions Trophy-chasing: England's tail was too long in midsummer, but this is now, and the new look was encouraging at first sight.