So where were we?

It’s been a while. My blogging, which started with such a bang in the winter, has petered out somewhat of late. Perhaps it was a lack of enthusiasm for one day cricket, perhaps it was Ashes fatigue, perhaps it was sheer laziness. We shall never know.

During this hiatus there’s been some fascinating cricket. England’s extraordinary final afternoon at Cardiff was eventually enough to give them a thoroughly deserved series win against a Sri Lankan side struggling to come to terms with the loss of Murali, the constant political interference that was quite rightly criticised by the ever lucid Kumar Sangakkara and the rain that kept them off the field for long periods of the tests. In truth, however, the last was something of a mercy, for it kept the series scoreline respectable. When the sun shines and all is well they have a formidable batting line-up, but the bowling looked toothless and the fielding, in the tests at least, was execrable. On the first day at Lord’s Prasanna Jayawardene had to wait until after tea for a throw from the outfield that didn’t either have him scrabbling around in the dirt or extending his rather small frame as far as it would go. Without Murali, and with Ajantha Mendis having been exposed as the emperor’s new clothes, it could be a long few years for the Sri Lankans, in test cricket at least.

As for England, they did were comfortably the better side without consistently reaching the heights of Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. The bowlers were superb in the latter stages at Cardiff, but were wayward at Lord’s and rather fizzled out on the final afternoon at the Rose Bowl. Chris Tremlett cemented his place in the side, James Anderson’s importance to the attack was shown at Lord’s when he was missing and Graeme Swann was his usual self, but both Steven Finn (who had some luck) and Stuart Broad (who didn’t) struggled for rhythm, length and line, both bowling too short. With Tim Bresnan fit, Finn is surplus to requirements for the first India test and Broad may find himself going the same way.

Andrew Strauss struggled horribly for form, his footwork sluggish and his stance to the left arm over bowlers looking too open, but Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott took up where they had left off in Sydney, and with Ian Bell in sparkling form, Eoin Morgan showing signs of fulfilling his promise, Kevin Pietersen finding his way back to his best and Matt Prior playing arguably the innings of the summer so far at Lord’s, the batting looked in good shape. Sterner challenges await, but it is a mark of how far England have come that there was no collective panic at 22-3 on the first day at Lord’s, rather a rebuilding exercise that then blossomed into a free scoring final session.

The one dayers also brought some hope for England in a format that they do not generally enjoy. They were made to chase leather in the second and third games when the conditions suited the visitors, but they were devastating in helpful conditions at the Oval and Trent Bridge and were good enough to prevail in the most evenly matched game at Old Trafford. There is still much work to do, but Alastair Cook was a revelation, especially to the media, with the bat and the bowling and fielding were generally pretty good. Jade Dernbach had his moments and will be better for the experience but still doesn’t entirely convince in an England short, while there are still concerns about the batting order, especially with Ian Bell at number six. Still, it was a promising start to the post-World Cup rebuilding exercise.

The India series awaits (and a preview will appear here in due course), but England enter it with a decent first half of the summer behind them. Bring it on.