There were no such gestures from England's current captain who nowadays maintains his guard at all times when notebooks

There were no such gestures from England's current captain, who nowadays maintains his guard at all times when notebooks are open and tape recorders running. He did at least allow himself to smile after guiding England home in comfort at Edgbaston, exorcising the painful memory of what happened here last year. On a pitch where others struggled throughout, and hard work was always in excess of the amount of runs scored, Tendulkar barely missed or mis-hit a ball.The exception was the tired hook that dismissed him and unless India can lift themselves, and bat like a team, there is unlikely to be any respite either for him or for India's persevering pair of opening bowlers in this series.. Had David Gower been in Micheal Atherton's shoes, he would probably have chosen the moment to pull out a "captain grumpy" T-shirt and set it on fire amid mock ceremony Or else left it on the table for Mohammad Azharadduin. Most pleasing was the twin renaissance of Chris Lewis and Hussain, which bodes well for the future, providing both are prepared to keep improving and honing their cricket.But it was far from being all England and if Hussain's knock set up the match, Tendulkar's was simply the innings of the match. In the first innings he had tried to hit his favourite bottom-handed on-drive too hard, and was bowled through the resulting gate.In the second innings, he let the ball come to him, either dropping it down in defence or dispatching it with thrilling precision and power in attack.

For England's three debutants it will be a victory to savour. Ronnie Irani was crucial in getting England's first innings going, while Alan Mullally gave the bowling attack some extra pace and a new angle of attack.As ever Dominic Cork's involvement was paramount, and his six wickets were the fruits of another fine performance. In the heat of battle the only thing Atherton was guilty of was hypocrisy, when he too pointed out what the ball had struck, after a bouncer that had hit him on the helmet was held at cover.Fortunately, in between the isolated moments of controversy, some fine cricket was played by both sides. Forget the odd gripe and gesture, modern cricket cannot be played in a vacuum of good manners.As long as they are not overdone, occasional incidents like Cork's goodbye wave to a departing Anil Kumble and Atherton's sermon to Tendulkar must be tolerated, and umpire David Shepherd - who had a good game - showed it does not take much to keep heated blood from curdling. To compound matters, the surface becomes riven with cracks as soon as the moisture departs from the top six inches of soil.If further evidence to condemn was needed, one need look no further than the changed technique of Nick Knight, Warwickshire's and England's opening batsman.

When he was at Essex, Knight's first movement with his feet was to move forward. After two seasons at Edgbaston, his initial movement is back towards leg-stump, as if expecting the worst, rather than back and across as detailed technicians like Geoff Boycott would advocate.But if the nature of the pitch takes a modicum of gloss off England's win, the way in which they went about achieving it should not, and they have gone about their task with energy, enthusiasm and a well directed sense of aggression. Atherton, so outspoken about last year's surface, was more guarded when asked yesterday about this year's offering. "I got my knuckles rapped a few times over the comments I made last year, so I think I'd better be careful," he said, grinning. What he conveniently neglected to mention was that when he was not digging out scuttlers he was again getting his knuckles rapped, but this time it was from balls that fizzed and nipped.It was a fickleness that even England's centurion and man of the match, Nasser Hussain, saw fit to mention, although it seemed to go unnoticed in the Warwickshire committee room.