By beating India in the Third Test match at Edgbaston in Birmingham by an astonishing innings and 242 runs, England is now (according to the rankings) the best Test cricket team in the world. It’s a position that England hasn’t been in since late 1979/early 1980, when many of the best Test cricketers weren’t even playing for their countries, but were instead performing for a breakaway cricket competition.

It’s a position England’s players will be keen to maintain for a long time, given that the West Indies were supreme throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, and then Australia took over until India ascended to the top some eighteen months ago. The team will also want to become better at the one-day game, where England is currently fifth place. England is currently the world T20 champions, but is actually sixth in the world. So, there’s still plenty more to do.