Cricket is not a difficult sport. Bat well, bowl well, field well and, as a rule, you will win more often that not.
The fact that, until yesterday, August 6 last year was the most recent time England had tasted victory in a Test match, gives some hint at how often they have ticked all those boxes in the same five-day period of late.
After a victory as emphatic as the 266-run win over India in the third Test in Southampton yesterday, which levelled the series at 1-1, it seems odd England’s drought had been so long.
There were 10 Tests without a victory in the past 12 months and a lot of criticism has fallen the way of Alastair Cook, the England captain, with calls for him to resign after losing the second Test at Lord’s by 95 runs last week.
This success, as well as scoring two half-centuries in the match, will take some of the pressure off Cook.
In this match he seemed more confident in the field, although, thanks to poor Indian batting, there were few sizeable partnerships that required a lot of thought to break.
England batted well to accumulate 569 for seven after winning the toss, but arguably the biggest difference to recent encounters was with the ball.
Teams need – barring a freak match in which there is a declaration or two – to take 20 wickets to win a Test match and England have struggled achieving that.
On that winless run they bowled out their opponents twice in three of the 10 matches.
The bowling is where there has been less heat on Cook.
Until this Test, James Anderson had looked as if his best days were behind him. His pace had slowed and his ability to swing the ball had become more predictable.
Stuart Broad can be unplayable when he finds his range, but he does not do it often enough to be truly considered one of the world’s best.
The hunt for a third and fourth seam option is continuing but Liam Plunkett, Chris Jordan, Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes have all been used this summer and none of them have put down a convincing claim for one of the roles.
Most worry has been in regard to the spin option. Moeen Ali was considered the back-up while serving as an all-rounder as England hunted for a replacement for Graeme Swann, who retired during the Ashes series in Australia last December after 255 wickets at an average of 29.96.
But Ali’s heroics in Southampton as he took six for 67 in the second innings and eight in the match, mean the hunt can be slowed, or even called off – at least for now.
Ali, who only made his Test debut last month, did take advantage of some average batting at times from the Indians, but he bowled a consistent line, got the ball in the right areas enough times, and was rewarded.
It was fitting he took the final wicket of Pankaj Singh as a reward for his efforts and for being one of the bright spots on what has been until this match a disappointing summer for England.
Ali, at 27, had already made his mark in his Test career with the bat, thanks to his gutsy unbeaten 108 in Leeds in the second Test against Sri Lanka, where he batted in vain for more than six hours in a fruitless attempt to prevent an England defeat.
He is far from the finished article with the ball, but yesterday’s efforts, which take his wicket tally for the series to 15, mean Ali has earned the right to be persevered with.
It also gives England time to look at whether Simon Kerrigan, who was badly mauled by the Australians last summer in his lone Test appearance, is ready for another shot.
It seems Monty Panesar has become terminally out of favour with the establishment.
Ali has been expensive with an economy rate of 3.62, which has prevented Cook from having the control he has needed on the occasions when the pace bowlers have had no joy at the other end.
There is also the expectation that there will be sterner challenges ahead for Ali than this young Indian batting line-up.
How he deals with Australia and their attack-minded batsmen, who have tried to smash many a spinner out of a game with some big hitting, will be fascinating next summer when the next Ashes series takes place.
Ali was unlucky not to get the man-of-the-match award, but his teammate Anderson, bowling as fast as he has done for a long time, was a worthy recipient for his seven wickets in the match.
If today’s ICC hearing into his Level 3 charge following his altercation with Ravindra Jadeja in the first Test at Trent Bridge goes against Anderson and leads to a suspension, then that will put huge pressure on Ali and the rest of the England attack to fill the void.
Broad’s three first innings wickets were the only other ones to go the way of an English pace bowler in the match.
Woakes bowled well without reward, while Jordan struggled with his run-up and his line, and it will be a shock if the latter features again this summer.
Despite a welcome win, England fans should not get too ahead of themselves. They had the best of the batting conditions, made full use of them, and then bowled with an accuracy and determination they have not shown for a long time.
The trick is doing it repeatedly and the challenge is to do it again in the fourth Test, which begins Thursday in Manchester.
gcaygill@thenational.ae
Follow us on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
