Summer Reflections: Richard Mann reflects on England's series triumph over India
Following the conclusion of England's Test summer, Richard Mann reflects on the progress that has been made and looks ahead to a tough winter in Sri Lanka.
It began with a crushing defeat at Lord's, as Pakistan exposed a brittle England batting top order, but ended with a sweeping 4-1 series victory over number one ranked Test side India, culminating in a thrilling victory at The Oval as Alastair Cook enjoyed a fitting end to a stellar international career. England's Test summer had just about everything.
Heading to Leeds for the second and final Test of the Pakistan series, Trevor Bayliss' job as head coach was seemingly on the line but as ever, England's senior players stood up and Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Chris Woakes ripped through Pakistan's batting line-up to set up a commanding win.
Thereafter, England never looked back and having won ODI series' against Australia and India, played some terrific cricket over the last few weeks to give captain Joe Root his most significant success since taking over the Test leadership.
Cook waves goodbye but leaves a gaping hole
All good things come to an end and after a 12-year England career that started with a hundred in Nagpur, Alastair Cook bid farewell with another century to help England on the way to victory at The Oval.
Watching him bat this past week - making scores of 71 and 147 - the 33-year-old looked as good as ever and given England's lack of reliable top-order batsman, his worth appeared as great as ever.
However, whilst still capable of big match-winning scores, consistency had become an issue for Cook over the last couple of years and once he felt he had lost some of the drive that had spurred him on earlier in his career, his decision is easy to understand.
As I said earlier in the week, Cook couldn't have scripted a better way to finish and we wish him well.
His departure leaves a gaping hole in an already fragile top order, though, with the search for an opener capable of performing at the highest level still proving fruitless.
Despite only averaging 22.09 in 12 Tests to date, opener Keaton Jennings seems likely to keep his place for the forthcoming tour to Sri Lanka but he is under severe pressure now and will be hoping he can draw upon the memories of his debut hundred in Mumbai on his return to the subcontinent.
Rory Burns has enjoyed another fine season for Surrey and looks the obvious choice for the second opener's slot with Haseeb Hameed still struggling badly at Lancashire and the likes of Adam Lyth and Mark Stoneman failing to knock the door down.
Moeen Ali's enthusiasm to bat at number three might earn him a run at first drop, especially with Joe Root having made clear his desire to bat at number four, but for all the former might well prosper on slow, spinning pitches in Sri Lanka, Australia's Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins will be in town next summer and he isn't the long-term answer for a such a pivotal position.
James Vince and Ollie Pope are other front-runners for that spot and former has enjoyed a strong summer for Hampshire while the latter is clearly highly regarded by the England management despite losing his spot after only two games early in the India series.
Don't be surprised if both make the the Sir Lanka tour with Moeen an option to open the innings, as he did in the UAE a few years back, if Jennings continues to struggle but other names for the selectors to consider are Sam Northeast and Joe Clarke.
Both are fine talents and for Northeast in particular, his time might well be now.
Whoever gets the nod in England's top-three, Cook has left some huge shoes to fill.
Anderson still the King but England craving raw speed
Another summer has come to pass and James Anderson has broken even more records. With the final ball of the final day of the final Test match of the summer, Anderson flattened Mohammed Shami's off-stump to take him past Glenn McGrath on the list of all-time Test wicket-takers.
Anderson now sits on 564 wickets, with only three spinners ahead of him, and even McGrath himself has suggested he could move well beyond 600 scalps before he hangs up his boots.
Following a tough winter Down Under, where Anderson stood head and shoulders above his England bowling colleagues, the Lancashire paceman has taken 33 wickets at average of 18.39 in seven Test matches this summer and his prolonged spell late on the fifth day at The Oval put the game out of India's reach after KL Rahul and Ribash Pant had threatened to pull off a spectacular run chase.
As ever, Anderson was the man Root turned to in his hour of need, just as Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss did before him, and the 36-year-old delivered once more.
If England are to reclaim the Ashes next summer, they will need Anderson fit and firing but before then there are tours of Sri Lanka and the West Indies to negotiate.
It has been suggested that Anderson might be rested from the first of those tours but as we saw yesterday, he remains so important to England's cause that Root will be loathe to take the field without his strike bowler by his side.
Old issues with the bowling attack still remain, however. The recent Ashes defeat illustrated England's need to find a genuine quick bowler to unsettle opposition teams when the ball doesn't swing but despite Mark Wood's return at the start of the summer, he now finds himself out of the picture once more and England, devoid of anyone capable of exceeding 90pmh, looked short of answers when the ball stopped moving laterally at The Oval.
Olly Stone continues to impress for Warwickshire and he might be worth a punt with Sri Lanka's pitches unlikely to help England's contingent of swing and seam bowlers.
Young guns offer hope of a bright future
When the sadness around Alastair Cook's retirement subsides, and the anxiety felt when imagining life without James Anderson and Stuart Broad can be forgotten, if just for a little while, England can look to the future with plenty of optimism.
Chief selector Ed Smith deserves plenty of credit for the inclusion of 20-year-old Sam Curran this summer and his Player Of The Series award was much deserved for a string of key contributions at crucial junctures.
Curran finished the summer with 292 runs at an average of 36.50 while his bowling brought him 13 wickets at 23.23. He looks a real find for England.
Sri Lanka is sure to test his medium-fast bowling like never before but he hasn't let England down so far and might just be the type of cricketer who always finds a way. Those are like gold dust.
His Surrey teammate, Ollie Pope, will be licking his wounds having been axed after only two Tests but his debut 28 at Lord's was packed full of promise and he looks a young player boasting a sound technique to compliment the fine temperament that has apparently impressed the England hierarchy.
With Jos Buttler's return to the side another successful selection this summer, England can look to the future some genuine hope, for all life after Cook is a scary prospect.
Spin it to win it
Sri Lanka has always been a place where spin bowling has been the key to success - think Muttiah Muralitharan - but that is more apparent now than ever before.
Sri Lanka routed a very capable South Africa 2-0 at home recently and of the 40 wickets the hosts took in that series, 37 were taken with spin. Most of the time, wily left-arm spinner Rangana Herath operated with the new ball and spin usually accompanied him at the other end.
How England's batsman handle that challenge will go a long way to deciding the series but as well as playing it, they'll need to bowl plenty of it, too.
Moeen Ali's return to the side could hardly have come at a better time and more importantly, he looks to be bowling beautifully right now. Nevertheless, his record with the ball away from home - 51 Test wickets at an average of 52.27 - confirms he has yet to cut it on foreign soil.
With Joe Root seemingly unwilling to put maximum faith in Adil Rashid this summer and Jack Leach still vastly inexperienced at the highest level, England are sure to have concerns about their ability to take 20 wickets this winter.
The onus is very much on Ali to continue his strong recent form and Root to instill the same level of confidence in Rashid that limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan has been able to do with such sparkling success.