A year ago, when Stewart stood in for Hussain at Lord's, his captaincy was gung-ho and uncomplicated, as it used to be when he was the first-choice captain. This time he was different, more thoughtful, more Hussain-like. Why England persist in not making Stewart official vice-captain is a mystery. Rare is the vice who has such a grip.The air of command had also been there in the batting. Pakistan's underpowered fast bowlers did rouse themselves three times to make a double breakthrough Atherton fell soon after Vaughan, Ryan Sidebottom soon after Thorpe, and Stewart straight after Hussain.
Where previous England teams might have collapsed, this one held firm. And they were confident enough to use attack as their form of defence. Thorpe grabbed the initiative as soon as he came in at 114 for 3. Stewart did the same at 254 for 5, and Dominic Cork emulated their energy, if not their elegance, at 317 for 7.The top eight batsmen on the scorecard all made at least 25, which is very rare, and made sure that Craig White was not missed until Sidebottom came on to bowl.Ian Ward made 39 with an unruffled air which was a testament to his cool head as well as to Waqar Younis's strangely defeatist captaincy. An oddity of this England team is that while all the old lags in the batting started the hard way, with first Test scores between 0 and 13, the young pretenders, expertly nurtured by Hussain and Duncan Fletcher, have all made a few runs in their first innings: Marcus Trescothick with 66, Vaughan 33, and now Ward.England's batting line-up has become, amazingly, the kind in which a newcomer feels at ease. The same did not quite apply to Sidebottom, who was clearly flattered by being preferred to Alex Tudor and ended up as the only person who did not make a tangible contribution to the victory.
But the other 10 men were so sure of themselves that they had no trouble carrying a passenger.Yet when England turn to the one-day game, the authority vanishes. The only pyjama series they have won recently was last summer's triangular against Zimbabwe and West Indies, minus Ambrose and Walsh: hardly the strongest opposition. By Friday, when the one-day squad is announced, the selectors have to settle on not just a captain but a coherent strategy.If the captain is either Stewart (effective, but 38) or Thorpe (31, but reluctant), it will be clear that short-termism rules. The selectors will in effect be banking on Hussain to become a force in the one-day game late in life.
