England can look to 2004 with confidence

Any year that begins with a 225-run victory over Australia cannot be too bad. That is what England achieved in the Sydney Test to get 2003 off to a sensational start. If the rest of the year did not quite live up to that sort of opening, it is fair to say that the ledger ended up in the black when the final accounts were presented.

After that Sydney triumph, there was a disrupted World Cup campaign where the Zimbabwe affair overshadowed everything else, success against Zimbabwe themselves in the summer followed by one-day success and a battling drawn Test series against South Africa. The winter touring programme began well with the expected Test and one-day wins in Bangladesh. Then came the heavy defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka in the one match that was possible in the one-day series before two top-class fighting draws but then ultimate disappointment of defeat in the third Test of that series and the last of the year.

The final balance sheet for Test matches in 2003 shows that 13 matches were played of which seven were won and three lost. In the one-day international column, 21 matches were scheduled (not counting the forfeited match against Zimbabwe in the World Cup), 12 were won, six lost to opponents and with three lost to the weather.

The year was in its infancy when England recorded that famous win in Sydney. Michael Vaughan was at the very peak of his powers with an innings of 183, Mark Butcher demonstrated his new maturity with a century as well, while Andrew Caddick had scarcely bowled better for England with seven second-innings wickets to wrap up the match. It might have been the last match in the series with the outcome of the Ashes decided much earlier, but it was still a way to send a message to the world that English cricket was in good heart and health.

Of course, it can only be conjecture now, but the World Cup campaign that followed might have been entirely different had it not been for the long shadow cast by the Zimbabwe affair. It was not easy to overcome the loss of those points but, even so, it could be said that England came within two balls of making a strong showing in the tournament.

It never pays to introduce the word "if" into discussions on cricket but there is every reason to think that the win that was within reach during the final group match against Australia would have made an enormous difference to England's fortunes. They would have gone into the Super Six stage with points and with confidence high. They would have been in a good position to make the semi-finals and from there it is only two matches to glory. But that was not what happened.

Nasser Hussain resigned from the one-day captaincy as England bowed out. He was tired, emotional and angry about what had occurred. It was decided to go for the twin-pronged approach to the captain's post, with Hussain continuing in the Tests and Vaughan becoming one-day captain. Before he could take charge, however, Zimbabwe arrived as the first Test opponents of the summer.

Problems at home were beginning to erode the Zimbabwean team. Andy Flower and Henry Olonga were no longer available for selection and England swept them aside in the two-match npower Test series. Five wickets in his first outing welcomed James Anderson to Test cricket at Lord's, while it was the Riverside Stadium at Chester-le-Street that made its debut in Test cricket in the second match of the series. So too did Richard Johnson, and marked it with six wickets at the first time of asking.

Vaughan's reign as captain of the one-day side got off to a losing start in the NatWest Challenge against Pakistan at Old Trafford, but his team swept to a seven-wicket at the Oval and clinched the series at Lord's when Marcus Trescothick surged back to form with a hundred.

Next up it was South Africa and Zimbabwe in the triangular NatWest Series. That also began with an English loss, against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge. Hundreds from Trescothick and Vikram Solanki at the Oval saw off South Africa before the weather intervened at Headingley against Zimbabwe to produce a no result.

When England lost to South Africa at Old Trafford, qualification for the final was by no means certain. Wins were required in the last set of round-robin matches and England duly obliged. Zimbabwe were despatched in Bristol, South Africa in Birmingham, and then South Africa were trounced again at Lord's in the final as Vaughan got into the swing of how to show off trophies to the crowd from the winners' rostrum.

It was back to Edgbaston for the first npower Test against South Africa. It was a high-scoring draw, but the really significant moment came at the close of play on the final day. Hussain went from the middle, where he had been not out, to another emotional press conference where it was announced that he was handing over the captain's mantle to Vaughan for Tests as well as one-day internationals. He had done a magnificent job for England but realised he had given his all. He felt the time was right to hand over to a younger man.

Vaughan might have been justified in questioning the timing as there were only two clear days before the second Test began. Hussain got a hero's welcome from the crowd as he went out to bat at Lord's, but he might not have been quite so popular when he dropped South African captain Graeme Smith. Smith had eight at the time and went on to 259. South Africa went one-up in the series.

Hussain made amends by making a hundred at Trent Bridge, as did Butcher, while James Kirtley became another bowler justifying the selectors' faith with six second innings wickets on his debut as England levelled the series. They went one-down again at Headingley before the thrilling final match at the Oval.

It was another emotional occasion with Alec Stewart playing in his final match before retirement. Play finished on the first day with South Africa on 362 for four. They totalled 484 before they were bowled out, but a double hundred for Trescothick and a hundred on return to the side for Graham Thorpe gave England a first innings lead of 120. Martin Bicknell and Steve Harmison shared eight wickets in South Africa's second innings so England needed just 110 to level the series. They lost only one wicket in doing so.

When Vaughan set off for his first tour in charge, England were expected to beat Bangladesh. They completed a clean sweep in both the one-day internationals and the Tests. Sri Lanka were reckoned to be a more difficult proposition, and so they proved to be.

England having been bowled out for just 88 in the first one-dayer to lose by ten wickets, the late monsoon washed out the last two scheduled matches. The first Test was in Galle where England appeared to be down, out, dead and buried before Ashley Giles, who had taken eight wickets in the match, marshalled the tail to hold out for the most unlikeliest of draws with one wicket in hand.

It was much the same story in Kandy, where Vaughan recorded his first Test century as captain in the second innings. He was seventh out, but Sri Lanka failed to take another wicket and so the teams went to Colombo for the final Test with two draws behind them.

Vaughan ended an unhappy sequence of losing tosses by calling correctly and batting first. At least England would not have to face the threat of Muttiah Muralitharan in the last innings of the match - it was thought. That proved to be one forecast wide of the mark as a weary England left Sri Lanka with their third-heaviest defeat in Test history, going down by an innings and 215 runs. It was a disappointing end to the series and to the year.

Some might scoff at the idea that England could become "the most successful and respected cricketing nation by 2007" as determined by the ECB mission statement. Progress has been made towards that end during 2003, even if there have been one or two stumbles along the way. But they have been merely stumbles. They have not fallen flat on their faces and can view 2004 with a certain amount of well-founded confidence.