The Poms are back in business. After an unbeaten run in Test cricket throughout 2004, England reaffirmed their status as the No.2 team in world cricket with a 2-1 series victory over the Proteas in their home den. While the 40-year drought might be a misleading statistic as South Africa returned to international cricket after isolation only in the early 90s, the fact remains that not many would have given England a chance of achieving this feat till a couple of years back.

The revolution in English cricket hasn't come overnight though. One has to go as far back as 1999 to trace the transformation of this side. Nasser Hussain, till then not a permanent member of the squad, took over the reigns as England captain after their disastrous World Cup campaign under Alec Stewart. It was the first step towards building a strong English outfit. The tough-talking Hussain was responsible for instilling a sense of competitiveness in the side, something that was lacking in the team for most of the 90s. While England weren't winning consistently under the Chennai-born England skipper, their performance graph was certainly on the up. Hussain himself went through a torrid time with the bat, but he did manage to command the respect of his teammates who took on the aggressive character of their skipper.

The problem with English cricket though continued as they had too many talented yet under-performing players. Mark Ramprakash made as many comebacks as the number of Tests he played while Mark Butcher managed to hold his place in the squad solely due to the lack of depth in English cricket. While the latter managed to revive his career with a match-winning 173* at Headingley in the 2001 Ashes series, many others just faded away into the wilderness.

Also, England hadn't found an all-rounder post-Ian 'Beefy' Botham. The Englishmen were very much a competitive side till the early and mid-90s, which was when the likes of Graham Gooch, David Gower, Mike Gatting and Allan Lamb hung up their boots. This is evident from the fact that they made it to two consecutive World Cup finals in '87 and '92.

The mid 90s saw the beginning of a slump. The Test squad struggled under Michael Atherton and Alec Stewart, both good players in their own right, but who lacked the vision to take English cricket forward. The one-day side did not fare much better. England's policy of having bits-and-pieces cricketers was successful for a short period of time but proved hazardous for them in the long run. Once the likes of Adam and Ben Hollioake, Ian Austin and Mark Ealham were thrown out, the team had to be built all over again.

The reconstruction saw veterans like Atherton and Hick axed from the one-day squad and fresh talent being blooded in both forms of the game. One such player was Andrew Flintoff. The burly all-rounder drew comparisons with Ian Botham right from the time he made his debut in 1999. But he failed to do half as well as Beefy despite being given innumerable opportunities and eventually he too was shown the door.

Things were looking down for English cricket when Hussain and Duncan Fletcher combined to change the make-up of the team. Unlike Bob Woolmer or Dav Whatmore, Fletcher has not been spoken too much about, but in his own way he has helped England cricket come out of a long lean trot.
 

The new millennium saw England tasting victories in the sub-continent and soon they were beginning to be a force to be reckoned with. Around the same time, Michael Vaughan arrived on the scene. Touted as a future England skipper, Vaughan combined with yet combined with Marcus Trescothick, another talented opener, to form a formidable partnership for his side at the top of the order.
 

Not long after, Andrew Flintoff took the cricket world by storm with a sensational comeback and is today rated the best all rounder in the world above Jacques Kallis. There was never any doubt about his talent, but it was his approach to the game that led to his unsuccessful initial stint in international cricket. Once he realised that there is more to cricket than knocking the cover of the ball, he became almost unstoppable. And this confidence was exuded in his performance with the red cherry too as he kept picking wickets at will in his second innings in international cricket.

Like Flintoff, another extremely talented cricketer has played a major role in the revival of England's cricketing fortunes. Steve Harmison, who was said to develop homesickness while touring abroad, found his feet in international cricket and rose to fame with superlative bowling performances against the Windies last year.

The Englishmen had begun getting the mix of experience and youth right. While the talented youngsters started delivering regularly, the senior pros to made their presence felt. Graham Thorpe, arguably England's best batsman who lost most part of his career to injuries and family problems, was back in the thick of things. All this while though, Hussain's batting form kept faltering and in the end he decided to hand over the captaincy to Vaughan, who was still very much in the early half of his career. Hussain soon exited from the scene to make way for Andrew Strauss, who made a sensational start to his Test career with a flurry of centuries. But by the time Hussain left, he had left his mark as a strong, uncompromising cricketer. The one criticism about his captaincy was that he often adopted negative tactics, asking Ashley Giles to bowl over the wicket to stop the flow of runs. But opposition players who were not too impressed with Hussain's strategy today see their own skipper following this policy.

Speaking of Ashley Giles, he too has had a part to play in the renaissance of English cricket. About a year back, the left-armer had thoughts of retiring from the game, but today he is a permanent member of the squad, delivering consistently with both bat and ball.

The biggest positive for English cricket is that most players in the team are now at the zenith of their powers. The success of England cricket can be attributed to the simultaneous rise of Trescothick, Vaughan, Flintoff, Giles, Harmison. the list goes on. And all of them still have plenty of cricket left in them. As such, they are best placed to give the Aussies a run for their money.

This is great news for the upcoming Ashes series. A traditional rivalry like the Ashes certainly deserves a close, keenly fought tussle, unlike the one-sided ones seen over the past decade and a half. It might still be too early to expect England to dethrone the Aussies. But atleast we can look forward to two great sides in action. World cricket needs a strong England cricket team, as it was the country where this great game originated. Could this be the dawn of a new era in English cricket? We will know in the years to come.