The Surfer

England can take confidence from crushing win

England have reacquainted themselves with the art of winning, which is no small thing with the Ashes seven weeks away, writes Mike Atherton in the Times .

George Binoy
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
England have reacquainted themselves with the art of winning, which is no small thing with the Ashes seven weeks away, writes Mike Atherton in the Times.
England's successes were numerous: the composure and class of Ravi Bopara, named England's man of the series for his two hundreds; the vitality and skill of James Anderson, the man of the match; the purity of Matt Prior's strokeplay; the imposing presence and intelligence of Stuart Broad with the new ball; the honest endeavour of Graham Onions at first change and the sparky enthusiasm of Graeme Swann.
The honours went to James Anderson and, to the genuine delight of his team-mates, Tim Bresnan, who, wondering perhaps if he might ever take a Test wicket, ploughed his considerable frame manfully into the wind and managed to do so with the last ball of his 25th over at this level, writes Mike Selvey in the Guardian.
Anderson, meanwhile, was outstanding. With atmospheric conditions perfect for him and having managed to get a decent shine on the ball, he made it talk so eloquently that it should be signed up immediately for next week's Question Time. He now has complete control of swing both from over the wicket and, more difficult to execute, from around the wicket, where his ability to hoop the ball away from the left-hander brought memories of Bob Massie and, indeed, such was his pace, Mike Procter.
It was as straightforward as could be. What wickets England did not earn they were offered gift-wrapped on a silver platter. Jimmy Anderson bowled beautifully for his haul of four to add to the five he claimed in the first innings and was a shoo-in for the man-of-the-match award, writes Stephen Brenkley in the Independent.
Technically a whitewash, after England wrapped up the second Npower Test against the West Indies at Durham by an innings and 83 runs, but not one Andrew Strauss will want to crow about too much. Australia announce their Ashes side early Wednesday morning, a team that unlike their vanquished opponents here, will be focused, motivated and in no doubt about Test cricket's pre-eminent place in the game, writes Derek Pringle in the Telegraph.
Stand-in wicketkeeper Paul Collingwood took on his new role with the zest of a prop forward invited to play at inside centre, writes Vic Marks in the Guardian.
Job done, roll on July. England will embark on a myriad of one-day cricket over the next two months knowing that, whisper it quietly, it is now possible to envisage a unit which just might give the Australians a run for their money when the real business of this summer finally begins, writes Paul Newman in the Daily Mail.

George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo