THE ENGLISH SUMMER

It started as a battle for supremacy between two also-rans of limited overs cricket.

An England trying to get its act together with a young team under a new coach, after a disastrous World Cup. A team which bears hardly any resemblance to the side which held Australia to a nail-biting tie in the Nat West Series in 2005, just preceding the Ashes triumph. Also only four remain from the team which pulled off a surprise triumph over Australia in the Commonwealth Bank Series early this year. The common factors being skipper Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen.

As for India, they were here with a stop-gap coach, seeking confidence after World Cup humiliation. Veterans Tendulkar and Ganguly had to prove it was too early to put them to pasture, while a few remains (Yuvraj, Zaheer) of who were once thought to be the core of the future needed to make their presence felt.

With two equally matched opponents (considering recent form and not reputation), it's been absorbing cricket. England's rediscovered Owais Shah and discovered Stuart Broad and Dimitri Mascarenhas, who should be getting a ticket for the Twenty20 World Cup now that Ravi Bopara is injured. And Ian Bell has been severe with the willow.

Ever the sluggish starter, India lived up to its unenviable reputation this time too. In the test series, rain at Lord's saved India the blushes. But when it came to the ODIs there was no hiding. And Jurassic-era fielding standards haven't helped matters.

That said, there is another dimension to saying things remain the same. They may be approaching the twilight of their illustrious careers, but Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly showed why they are among the most feared opening combinations in ODIs. Tendulkar 's 94 at the Oval had blasts from the past like the paddle sweep, inside-out drive and the best of the lot - the nonchalant flick from middle to the leg for four.

The old guard stands up to to be counted, as they near sunset point. But the worrying part is that their reunion happened because the swashbuckling Virender Sehwag, once vice-captain, finds himself without a spot in the team. From the generation which followed the Tendulkar-Ganguly-Dravid-Laxman-Kumble, the likes of Kaif, Harbhajan and Sehwag are out of sight and so is Irfan Pathan.

Youthful exuberance is now the property of leggie Piyush Chawla, who's been a treat to watch. There's Dinesh Kaarthik, who's combined youth with grit. And after the Oval thriller, there is the Robin Uthappa scoop to fine leg to savour. Yes, there is hope.

Claps and shouts boomed all over my office after the nail-biting Oval triumph, chasing 316. I too felt the urge to clap, to honour a team which had bounced back in the eyes of fans, erasing the atmosphere of cynicism which followed the World Cup humiliation.

Time to applaud Indian cricket for giving us moments of pleasure, in between exasperating us with their inconsistency. And proving that matches can be won by sticking to the basics, without the help of a sophisticated foreign coach. Has BCCI got the message?