Where next?

WE needed 90 minutes to capture the first wicket - Siddle, predictably caught in the deep - and after exactly two hours England were bouncing up and down on the pitch, the series was safe by 3-1 and England had won for the third time in five Tests by an innings and plenty.

No stat tells you more about the difference between the two teams. England were strong and purposeful, well-prepared and determined and, despite the shortcomings of the captain, all men steeped in cricket knowledge.

Anderson was the hero and rightly so. They are strange, taciturn people in Burnley; I know them well from the days when Bob Lord, a heavyweight butcher who was reputed to hate reporters, was chairman of the football club. The rest of the press pack kept him at arm's length but once he realised that I was the only sports writer who was going to ring him he relented and gave me story after story. So get a Burnley man on your side and you have a man who will be your best friend.

Now England have beaten Australia in three of the last four series, pessimism is the name of the main feeling Down Under. They ought to count their blessings but my guess is that they will go on the inquiry, sacking everyone in sight and an orgy of self destruction route.

Remember that England lost 5-0 in 2006-7 yet most of the players from that series are in the current squad. Consistency in selection may be boring and predictable but it is the key to success.

As for England, who knows what will happen. In the past bad teams have survived, good teams have been torn apart.

Lets hope Geoff Miller and his mates have learnt that lesson.