Is English cricket back on track?

As usual India began their tour of England with the batsmen, leaving aside a few, failing to put up a decent show when faced with the moving ball.

Though the current English pace attack was not considered to be a threat to the famed Indian batting line-up, which boasts of some of the finest players of the current era, but they all failed to come up with a decent score at Lord's.

The match was saved only because of the timely intervention of the rain gods and some stubborn batting by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

In the last couple of years English cricket has shown signs of revival after having a harrowing time for a major part of the 90's and the first few years of the 21st century.

And the major reason for this was the emergence of a new breed of pacers who not only bowl fast but also have the swing and the aggressive intent to trouble the best batsmen. This was amply demonstrated when England reclaimed the Ashes after a long time in 2005 with their pace attack playing a major role in the triumph.

Bowlers like Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Andrew Flintoff and James Anderson not only bowled menacing but were also hungry for success. They troubled all the Australian batsmen during the 2005 Ashes.

In England the ball moves very easily and the batsmen find difficult to come to terms with it. On the other hand the bowlers too find it difficult to control the cherry due to the same reason, so to succeed one must have complete control over his bowling.

Experience plays an important part while bowling in England, as only with experience can the bowler know where to pitch the ball so that he gets the required movement. Too over pitched and the drives come into play and too short will see the cuts, pulls and hooks to the delight of the crowd.

But the current England bowlers that Indian batsmen are facing are still too raw for the international stage and yet the visitors have found the going tough.

Among the current crop of pacers, James Anderson is the most experienced but he too is only 17 Tests old while Ryan Sidebottom is making a comeback into the team after six years. The newest kid on the block, Chris Tremlett, made his debut during the first Test against India at Lord's and taking advantage of his 6'7" tall frame, troubled all the Indian batsmen.

But the surprise package has been spinner Monty Panesar whom the Indians were expected to blow away out of the attack. But he has proved that records are written on paper and when it comes to the real action, it is grit and determination that matters.

The English attack will look more potent when Hoggard, Jones and Flintoff return. Though with the exception of Sidebottom all the others are right-handed but they all are different and this variety can handful against any batting line-up.

Together with a slew of young batsmen like Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, England look all set to become of the dominant force in world cricket once again.

After a long time English cricket has once again got some character and this is a good sign for the sport.

With Australia dominating the sport for the past one decade, the true cricket fan can only hope that English cricket rises from the abyss that it had fallen and takes its rightful place.