From the Ashes, since the Ashes

With a thumping 4-0 victory over India in the Test series that concluded in August 2011, England became the new No.1 Test team. And that too by displacing the existing No.1 team India. So now England are at the top of the longest and shortest version of the game (let's not forget that they are the defending champions of T-20 World Cup).

All this has not been sudden. It has been after a lot of ups and downs. More downs actually rather than ups. Not long ago, England was not performing well and was a highly inconsistent side. Also there was a period in 2007-2008 when captaincy was a major problem. Michael Vaughan, Andrew Flintoff, Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen - all led England at some point of time. This resulted in England becoming a highly unstable side. From such a situation to becoming the number one Test team in the world would not have been possible without a turnaround.

The turnaround started in 2009. In January 2009 Andrew Strauss was appointed as the captain after Kevin Pietersen resigned from the captaincy. Although his appointment was received positively Strauss's captaincy career did not start on a positive note. He started his captaincy career by losing the test series against West Indies in West Indies. It looked like the change in captaincy did not change the fortunes of the English team. But somehow Andrew Strauss did manage to bring the team together and focus on a goal - the goal of winning the Ashes (of 2009). This focus made a player like Stuart Broad refuse a lucrative IPL contract. Although a few English players did appear in the 2009 IPL, it did not affect their preparation for the Ashes. It was evident in the discipline their players showed, especially the bowlers. English bowling has really lifted their team.

The victory of 2009 Ashes Series helped the English team scale a new height in world of cricket. Until that series England's performance was highly inconsistent in any form of the game. After the 2009 Ashes Series this team started to push for the top position in Test cricket.

What makes England's success in Test cricket special is that they hardly had any grand success in the recent past to take inspiration from. Barring the Ashes win of 2005 there was nothing they could boast of before or after that. And the joy of the 2005 triumph was nullified in the 2006-07 Ashes series Down Under. Highly stung by the defeat in 2005, Australia promptly put England in their place with a 5-0 whitewash in the 2006-07 Ashes series. Thus the magic and joy of the Ashes win for England was short-lived.

But that history did not repeat itself in 2010-11 Ashes Series. After winning the Ashes at home in 2009 England did not let the Ashes slip when they toured down under. Continuing their great run in Test cricket England humiliated Australia with a 3-1 win. With this win the English team really started staking their claim for the top position in Test cricket. It was nothing short of a miracle for a team, which was nowhere among the top teams a year and a half ago, to be on the verge of becoming the number one team. However England's success makes for an interesting analysis vis-à-vis India.

If we take a look at India, which was number one Test team for a period of almost two years, things were different. India's performance in the past decade was certainly more consistent than that of England's. It wasn't as if India won each and every series. But India started winning abroad more consistently than before. The process of becoming number one team had started much before. And because of that India had a good record in the recent past to take inspiration from. In a sense they had the support of their own history. This process started by Saurav Ganguly completed a full circle when the Indian team under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the number one team in the world.

England had no such luxury. Only miracle could have taken them to this position. And that miracle did happen in the form of captain Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower. Both of them deserve full credit for England's success. But there is one important factor that has changed the fortunes of this team. Former England captain Michael Atherton in his autobiography 'Opening Up' has written about the difference between the English and the Australian team. He cites 'pride' as the critical factor in Australia's success. He says that he always felt English players were low on pride when it came to playing for their country. He said one of the main reasons of England's failure was lack of pride and motivation while playing at the international level.

The current English team is certainly showing a different attitude. There is no lack of pride. There is no lack of spirit and there is a plenty of positive attitude. This is evident from the fact that they are playing aggressively especially while bowling. Strong bowling department has played the most crucial role in their rise to the number one position. Again this is something contrary to the Indian team. Batting and that too aggressive batting (since Virender Sehwag opens the innings!) was responsible to a great extent for India's success. Indian batting prowess has been successful in not just winning matches but also covering up a relatively weak bowling.

In England's case their batting has not been aggressive. But it has certainly been solid and gritty. Their batsmen are not bogged down easily. Also if we take a look at their batting record we can see that all of their batsmen are coming to the party. Their batsmen are playing with such a consistency which was absent for many years.

If we talk about their bowling, it has really grown from strength to strength. Their bowlers are aggressive, accurate and focused. Their fast bowlers have a great variety in terms of pace, bounce, swing and reverse swing. Add to that the rise of Graeme Swann, the off-spinner and their attack looks complete. For a country not known for its spinners, it is a matter of great pride that it has the number one spinner in the world at the moment.

Add to that their sharp fielding makes them a formidable side. With a well-balanced, consistent and strong side with an inspiring leadership, England are sure to remain at the top of the table for a while. Other teams surely need to put in lots of efforts to snatch the crown from England.