The charismatic fast bowler from Barbados had to wait eight years for a chance to get his own back, but when he did every pane of glass at the ground was under threat during an assault as unexpected as it was entertaining.

Coming in at number 11 in his first Test for three years, Best slayed England's attack to every corner of the Birmingham venue in an astonishing innings of 95 - the highest by a number 11 in Test cricket history.

Like a golfer admiring a straight drive, each of his boundaries was followed by a check finish and his fifty greeted by a lavish arm-wheeling celebration.

West Indies tailender Tino Best hit the highest score by a number 11 in Test history after scoring 95 runs against England at Edgbaston. Photo: Getty

The only disappointment for those present at Edgbaston was that his dismissal five runs short of a century meant we could only speculate as to how he might have chosen to celebrate reaching the landmark.

"I reckon he'd have been straight out of those gates and off down Broad Street," said former England captain and Test Match Special pundit Michael Vaughan in reference to one of Birmingham's liveliest night spots.

Legendary West Indian commentator Tony Cozier said the nature of Best's contribution was entirely befitting of a man whose answer-phone message speaks volumes about his levels of self-confidence.

"It's something along the lines of 'This is Tino Best speaking, the fastest bowler in the world. I can't take your call right now, but I'll get back to you as soon as I've finished practising how to get faster'", said Cozier, who lives in Barbados and has been reporting on West Indies cricket since 1965.

"He is a character and a showman and I think that is what the game needs. Sometimes he overdoes it but it was great to see him come back. And now he has something to keep with him for the rest of his life - the fact that he has scored the highest score by a number 11 in a Test match."

Best's incredible innings marked a resurrection of sorts for a player whose international career had been blown off course since he was called up to face Australia as a 21-year-old in 2003.

Although capable of sending down unplayable deliveries in excess of 90mph, he struggled to find the control to match his pace and was dropped after a disappointing tour of Sri Lanka in 2005.

A brief spell in the now-defunct Indian Cricket League was followed by an ill-fated stint with Leek Cricket Club in the North Staffordshire and South Cheshire League that ended with Best being sacked for misconduct.

"I was chairman and our captain was looking for a big-name signing as our pro," said Leek chairman Brian Mellor. "Tino came along and, in his first few performances, looked a world beater for us with fifties down the order and five-wicket hauls.

"It looked as though we were going to win the league, but all of a sudden a switch went off and we ended up with all sorts of claims flying around.

"He started trying to knock people's heads off instead of trying to hit the stumps, got accused of bowling deliberate beamers and started falling out with umpires and opposition players.

"Things got out of hand and it was getting to the stage where we would have got in serious trouble, so we had to terminate his contract. I just couldn't believe the change in the guy. "

Having returned to Barbados with his tail between his legs, Best found himself back in the Test squad in 2009 when a pay dispute led to the majority of first-choice players going on strike for a home series against Bangladesh.

But, after picking up only two wickets in two Tests against the Tigers, he was back in international exile once again.

The Leek episode did not prevent Yorkshire from taking a punt on Best as their overseas player at the start of the 2010 season and, although he only took 18 wickets in nine Championship matches for the county, there were signs of a new-found maturity in his personality and performance.

Back in Barbados, he forced himself into an attack featuring fellow Windies pacemen Kemar Roach and Fidel Edwards and bowled well enough to earn a call-up to the one-day squad against Australia in March.

And when Shannon Gabriel was forced home from the tour of England by injury last month, Best was given the call to resume his Test career.

"In the last couple of years he has added control and tended to keep himself together rather than let his emotions get the better of him," added Cozier.

"He's a volatile character but he can be very effective if you appreciate him and know how to handle him."

England's attack certainly didn't know how to handle Best when he set about ruining their Sunday morning.

He surpassed Zaheer Khan's 75 - the previous highest Test score by a number 11 - with a four and a straight six off Tim Bresnan and looked to be careering towards a century before he was fooled by Graham Onions and caught trying to catapult a slower ball into the executive boxes.

The crowd let out a collective sigh of disappointment before rising to their feet to acclaim an innings worthy of Flintoff in his prime.

As for the former England all-rounder himself, he clearly enjoyed every minute of Best's breathtaking response to his eight-year-old jibe.

"Nnnoooooooooo Tino!," he said on Twitter after the Bajan's dismissal. "He went for the windows to reach his 100! Well played sir, great entertainment, take a bow."

Now, he's taking on a whole new breed of opponent, but one equally intent on inflicting physical damage.

Four years after hanging up his cricket spikes for good, the former England one-day captain is embarking on a career as a professional boxer and cage-fighter in Queensland, Australia.

Having already fought once as a boxer - knocking his opponent out in the fourth round on Friday - Hollioake will make his Mixed Martial Arts debut (the official name for cage-fighting) in the Days of Glory promotion on 5 May.

"I hate golf, which is what most cricketers play, so I've got to try to find something as a pastime that works for me."

Adam Hollioake played four Tests and 35 one-day internationals for England before retiring in 2004. Photo: Getty

Hollioake, 40, has always had a passion for fighting sports, and had boxing lessons as a teenager, but the path to an unlikely career change began in 2010 when a broken ankle led him to fall out of shape.

"During the next four or five months I stacked on 15-20 kilos and although I tried going on diets the weight wasn't coming off," he recalls.

"My wife said to me 'you need a challenge'. She said I'm not vain enough to care about my appearance but I have a massive ego and hate losing so I needed to challenge myself into doing something to keep the weight off.

"So I got talking to a guy who does Jiu-Jitsu and is also a boxing coach. He said 'had I considered having a professional fight?'

"Another friend of mine is involved in the Mixed Martial Arts scene here on the Gold Coast. He said it wouldn't be hard for me to put it all together and fight as a pro."

Months of training and sparring followed, with Hollioake regularly rising at 5.30am to begin his strength and conditioning work.

"The training is really hard, but short," says Hollioake. "It's not like a 10km jog, where you feel comfortable the whole way through. In this, you blast yourself for 15 minutes, training at 100%. Stuff that is so intense that it makes you throw up.

"I've always been an impatient person. That's why I struggled in Test matches and preferred the 50-over stuff. And then when Twenty20 came along, I was like 'now we're talking!'"

Despite the training being a far cry from a gentle afternoon net session, Hollioake says cage-fighting and cricket have more similarities than may initially meet the eye.

"In fighting, as in cricket, if someone has the upper had on you it becomes a bit more daunting and you have to dig deep," he says.

"But if you are feeling confident in yourself and you are facing a fast bowler you are not physically scared and you just back your ability."

After captaining Surrey to three county championship titles and playing in four Tests and 34 one-day internationals, Hollioake retired in 2004 and moved back to Australia, the country of his birth.

He immersed himself in charity and media work and set up a property development business.

The recession hit his business hard, however, and Hollioake made the headlines last year when the collapse of his company led to him being declared bankrupt by a Brisbane court.

Nine months on and Hollioake says he is starting to get his finances back in order, although he insists the move into fighting is not financially motivated.

"I only got paid $1,000 Aussie (£647) for my first boxing fight which is probably about a week's food bill for me and my three kids," he says.

"I'm just trying to get myself back on my feet. I've got a little bit of property, some promotional products and some phone applications based on training which I'm about to launch.

"As for the fighting, I don't know where it's going to go. I might win and never want to fight again or I might lose and want to carry on fighting for the rest of my life.

"I'm not thinking any further ahead than tomorrow because I might wake up tomorrow and think I don't want to fight any more."

The Middle East venue may have been a novelty, but the headlines that greeted England’s 3-0 whitewash by Pakistan could have been plucked straight from the bad old days of the 1990s.

In just under three weeks, England’s cricketers have gone from being the toast of the nation to a laughing stock once again.

While their batsmen will look back on the three Tests as a nightmarish experience, the bowlers generally came out of the series with their heads held high.

Andrew Strauss (150 runs at 25.00) – 5.5/10

Tuffers says: “In terms of his captaincy he didn’t do a lot wrong. He decided to play two spinners, which England have been reluctant to do for some time and it proved to be the right call. Did manage a gutsy fifty in the last Test, but will be disappointed with his contribution with the bat."

Alastair Cook (159 runs at 26.50) – 5/10

“Having had such a great year, he’ll be disappointed not to have made his mark on the series. But he at least showed some stickability, and his 94 in Abu Dhabi put us in a position from which we should have won the Test match.”

Jonathan Trott (161 runs at 26.83) – 5/10

“One of main reasons England have been so prolific with the bat has been the dependability of Trott coming in at number three. But he never looked his assured self at the crease. He normally has such composure but it looked a struggle for him out there.”

Kevin Pietersen failed to sparkle during England's Test series defeat in Dubai. Photo: Getty

Kevin Pietersen (67 runs at 11.16) – 3/10  

"A horrific tour for England’s gun batsman. For your star player to come back with an average of 11 is just horrendous. He never got into the series and always looked fragile against the spinners.”

Ian Bell (51 runs at 8.50) – 2/10

“A shocking display; he simply got doosra’d out of the game. If you don’t know which way the ball is turning you are starting from rocky foundations and Bell was a pale imitation of his former self.”

Eoin Morgan (82 runs at 13.66) – 3/10

"He was the one fellow I thought might do well against the spinners because he looks to dominate, but he was just caught on the back foot and became timid and shotless. Showed signs of his capacity to be counter-puncher on the last day of the series but it was too little, too late."

Matt Prior (150 runs at 37.50) – 7/10

"He kept very tidily and batted well at times despite coming in to some dire positions after all the big guns had failed. Always tried to play some shots and had a couple of very useful knocks."

Stuart Broad (105 runs at 21.00, 13 wickets at 20.46) – 8/10

“My man of the series for England. On wickets that shouldn’t help him, he was a massive force with the ball and always seemed likely to take a wicket. Showed his all-round ability too with an aggressive fifty in Abu Dhabi.”

Graeme Swann (105 runs at 17.50, 13 wickets at 25.07) – 6/10

“I think he’ll be slightly disappointed. He got a decent number of wickets but after going over there as the number one spin bowler in the world, he would have liked to have had more of an impact when it mattered in low-scoring games.”

James Anderson (54 runs at 10.80, 9 wickets at 27.66) – 6/10

“It’s never easy for seam bowlers on flat pitches and, although Anderson stuck to his guns, he was outbowled by Broad and Umar Gul and was not quite the attack leader he has been in the past. He didn’t let the captain down, but would have liked a couple more wickets.”

Monty Panesar (14 wickets at 21.57) – 8/10

“He came in and took his chance brilliantly. The conditions were helpful, but you still have to bowl well to take wickets and Monty thoroughly deserved his."

Phil Tufnell was talking to BBC Sport's Sam Sheringham

Masters of their craft in recent times, England’s batsmen resembled hapless amateurs in the first Test against Pakistan in Dubai.

Bamboozled by the variations of off-spinner Saeed Ajmal, the top six made just 143 runs between them in two innings as England were skittled for 192 and 160 in a chastening 10-wicket defeat.

With the second Test in Abu Dhabi starting on Wednesday, England have precious little time to put things right and justify their position as the world’s top-ranked side.

 Ian Bell survived just 16 balls over two innings in the opening Test. Photo: AP

So how do you recover from such a humbling experience and produce the goods when your touch has deserted you?

“You’ve got to remind yourself that you are a good player,” says former captain Alec Stewart, who played a record 133 Tests for England between 1990 and 2003.

“I used to put on a video of a match in which I played well and remind myself of what I could do. 

“One bad game, and one bad innings, doesn’t turn you into a shocking player. The majority of that top six have a very good 12 months behind them.

“They just need to stay relaxed. If you are going through a poor run of form it is natural to become tense and on edge. Sometimes it just takes one ball that you put away and then you are off and running again.”

Perhaps the most alarming aspects of England’s batting display in Dubai were the abject showings from Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen.

The prolific trio, who scored nine centuries and five double-hundreds between them in England’s previous 12 Tests, failed to reach double figures in either innings.

Cook scrambled eight runs from 61 balls, Bell twice failed to read Ajmal’s doosra, while Pietersen was lured into a false shot by Ajmal in the first innings and mindlessly pulled to deep square-leg in the second.

According to Mike Gatting, who averaged 50.7 over the 13 Tests he played in India, the key to success in alien conditions is to treat the pitch, and the opposition, with respect.

“The first two or three overs are the most important,” he says. “You have to be confident that you can get through those first 18 balls.

“Whatever method you wish to use, whether it is using your feet or playing off the back foot, you have to do it in a way that is comfortable to you. And when you get in, you need to make sure you stay in. 

“You need to have a game plan. A good solid forward defensive can be a positive statement of your intent to occupy the crease.”

With mastering Ajmal potentially the key to the series, England’s batsmen have been spending plenty of time under the spell of “Merlyn”, a bowling machine that purports to be able to replicate any spinner’s delivery.

But, in Stewart’s opinion, there is a limit to Merlyn’s effectiveness when a batman is trying to unravel the mysteries of Ajmal.

“Merlyn is better than nothing because at least they are practising, but the downside is that you are not actually seeing the bowler’s hand,” he says.

“Ajmal is tricky because he bowls both his doosra and his off-spinner with a scrambled seam.

“With Graeme Swann’s regulation off-spinner you can see that the angle of the seam stays the same all the way down the pitch, so you also have time to pick it as it is coming towards you.

“If it’s a scrambled seam for both the doosra and the off-spinner, it makes it harder because you are having to pick it out of the hand.

“In my day, we would work as a team, looking at how to combat someone like Anil Kumble. Does he do anything differently? Does he have his fingers in a slightly different place when he spins the ball?

“With all the technology on hand nowadays I’d like to think they are analysing everything they can and adjusting their techniques accordingly.”

Saeed Ajmal's first-innings figures of 7-55 included five lbws. Photo: Getty Images

Gatting believes England’s best approach to Ajmal is to play the ball late and endeavour to disrupt his rhythm. He points to the example of left-hander Graham Thorpe, who averaged 61 in England’s back-to-back series wins in Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the winter of 2000-01.

“If you’ve got a good spinner you generally try to knock him off his length,” Gatting says. “Thorpy used to play [Muttiah] Muralitharan off the back foot and played him magnificently well. He also played Shane Warne very well in his own manner.

“Ajmal bowled very well but he wasn’t under pressure. If the guys can get in, it will be interesting to see how Ajmal gets on.

“You don’t have to whack the ball out of the ground but if you play in a positive and organised manner, you should score plenty of runs on these pitches.”

Gatting is backing England to continue their habit of following up their last four Test defeats with a resounding victory.

After their previous loss in Perth in December 2010, England reacted by bowling out Australia for 98 on the first day of the Melbourne Test and went on to win the Ashes series 3-1.

“Dubai wasn’t very pleasant viewing but let’s not go overboard about it,” he says. “England have had a long break, whereas Pakistan have played a lot of cricket, have a team spirit about them and a guy who bowls a bit differently.

“Hopefully England will have got that defeat out of their system and do what they normally do when they lose a Test match and win the next one.”

How did England's bowling attack, for so long the preserve of journeyman seamers and spinners unworthy of applying Shane Warne's hair lacquer, become the envy of world cricket?

In the past an injury to a key bowler would have severely dented England's chances, but when Tim Bresnan's troublesome elbow forced him into depart Dubai before the Test series against Pakistan began, selectors were able to call on Graham Onions, a more than handy fast bowler who was sharing new-ball duties with James Anderson before he suffered a career-threatening back injury two years ago.

Throw Graeme Swann’s world-class off spin into the mix - with Monty Panesar as a more than capable stand-in - and you have a pretty lethal cocktail, and one that most of England’s recent opponents have found decidedly difficult to stomach. 

“You could argue that they haven't had to bowl against any of the great Australian batting line-ups but then again, they destroyed a very good Indian order last summer.

“They are ruthless. When they get a scent of blood they go for it. It can’t have been much fun for the likes of [India batsmen] Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh last summer when England really did go after them.

“It was pretty brutal stuff but that is what international sport it all about. You are not out there to make friends on the field, you are there to turn them over."

Turning teams over is something England have become rather good at of late. In their last 13 Tests, they have won seven by an innings, testimony in part to the batsmen’s ability to rack up huge totals, but also to the skill, discipline and relentless determination of their bowlers.

In Anderson, Swann and Broad, England have three of the top four bowlers in the ICC Test rankings, while Bresnan and Tremlett are ranked 13th and 14th in the table. No other Test side has more than two players in the top 15.

England have had great bowling units in the past of course, the Fred Trueman, Brian Statham, Trevor Bailey, Jim Laker and Tony Lock breed of the late 1950s springs to mind, or the Ashes-winning sides of 1971-72 or 2005.

But too often in recent decades, their attack has been less a coherent arsenal and more a diverse collection of weapons all firing in different directions and very rarely hitting the target at the same time.

These days the targets are not just being hit, they are being shattered; the sight of an iconic Indian batman trudging back to the pavilion with his stumps rearranged proving one of the recurring images of last summer.

Thanks to some long-term thinking by the England & Wales Cricket Board, players such as Broad and Finn have been brought in to the national team set-up at an early age and developed as bowlers and athletes by England's unrivalled team of specialist coaches.

In an interview in August, Broad put the success of the current generation down to a sense of collective responsibility, arguing that the bowlers, unlike some of their predecessors, take as much pleasure in each other’s success as their own.

“When I was a kid and a fan, I got the impression at times that Darren Gough and Andy Caddick were almost competing against each other to take wickets,” he said. “We put pressure on together and squeeze the opposition as a pack.”

It is an argument with which the dependable Fraser - who spent much of his career surrounded by the more mercurial talents of Devon Malcolm, Chris Lewis and Phil Tufnell - is inclined to agree with.

“I think there is a greater togetherness in this team than there was in previous generations, but a lot of that has to do with central contracts and the fact that players can feel secure because they know that they will be involved,” he said.

“In the old days you always felt you were potentially two games away from getting axed.

“That led to a lot of competitiveness. I didn’t mind how many wickets any other England bowler got as long as I got one more than them.

“There were a couple of spikey occurrences in my career, when someone wanted to be the main man, but in this England side everyone is very comfortable with where they sit. There is loyalty and consistency, but also an understanding of where everyone is.”

As England prepare to embark on a testing 2012 programme that features away series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, home contests with West Indies and South Africa, and a tour of India, the supremacy of their pace unit may well be something to enjoy while it lasts.

With Australia, South Africa and India all unearthing exciting young seamers in recent months, Fraser believes we could be in for another golden age of Test match fast bowlers.

“We had an era of wonderful fast bowlers with Glenn McGrath and [Jason] Gillespie, the Windies, Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram, Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock. And then there was a little lull, where no one seemed to be producing world-class quicks.

“But now it seems to be changing. Pakistan are always finding high quality fast bowlers from somewhere, Australia have got two or three exciting young bowlers, South Africa have Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander to back up Dale Steyn and even India have Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav.

“There are potentially a lot of good fast bowlers around but England are further on in the cycle at the moment.

“They are experienced, have better records and are more consistent, which is one of the principal reasons why they are top of the rankings.”

Can they stay there? We're about to find out.

Having arrived in India with high hopes after dominating Mahendra Dhoni's side all summer, England have been brought down to earth with a very painful bump.

The 5-0 one-day whitewash suffered by Alastair Cook's men was an all-too-familiar story, with England's players found wanting on the slow, turning pitches of the subcontinent, and suffering old-fashioned thrashings in four of the matches.

England have now won just one of their last 18 one-day matches against India in India, and just five of their last 20 away games against any side.

No.1 in the Test rankings, England are a distant fifth in the one-day table and appear no closer to mastering the requirements of the 50-over format, especially in unfamiliar conditions.

I chatted to former England players Ed Smith and Matthew Hoggard - BBC Test Match Special pundits for the series in India - about where it all went wrong for Cook and his team, and where they go from here.

Cook averaged only 26.60 in a difficult series in India. Photo: Getty

BATTING WOES

England's single biggest failing in the series was their inability to bat out the 50 overs in four of the five matches. Too many England batsmen got starts but failed to turn them into the kind of contributions that win matches, their utter bamboozlement in the face of spin bowling summed up by the startled look in Jonny Bairstow's eyes after his stumps were rearranged by Ravindra Jadeja in Mumbai. In total, England's batmen managed one individual innings of more than 70 runs all series. India's racked up seven.

"The lesson England have learned is that you don't leave it to other people when you are in India," says Smith. "The conditions are so different to what most English players are used to that if you do get a start you have a huge responsibility to do the job, to go on and get a big score.

"If you look at the top of the innings, four of England's five innings started with a maiden. It's not just about getting fours and sixes away in the first 10 overs. It is about taking the pressure off and getting some momentum. England allowed too many dot balls."

CAPTAIN COOK

English cricket's pin-up boy was looking like a jaded retiree by the end of a chastening fortnight. Although England's failings were largely technical rather than tactical, Cook's field placings were often too defensive, while some of the blame for his players' poor body language and indiscipline must be laid at the captain's door.

"Cook could learn a lot from how Dhoni captained in the field," says Hoggard. "As soon as he thought of something, he did it. He didn't wait for the next ball.

"Sometimes he put people in unorthodox positions but there was always a point to it. Alastair Cook's attitude was a little bit more 'we'll see what happens'. He was more reactive than proactive."

Graeme Swann only took two wickets in the series. Photo: Getty

THE KIESWETTER CONUNDRUM

Once again there was plenty of style but not a huge amount of substance from Craig Kieswetter. The Somerset stumper hit more sixes (five) than any other player except Dhoni but only scored 135 runs in five innings. And after a patchy series with the gloves, are England any closer to finding the pinch-hitting wicket-keeper batsman they so badly crave?

"We've seen the best and the worst of Craig Kieswetter on this tour," says Smith. "He has taken some unbelievably good catches but he also missed a couple as well.

"With the bat, he tends to be quite binary, he tends to decide when to hit it miles but to allow a lot of dot balls.

"I think the selectors are still making their mind up about Kieswetter. But there is a balance to be struck between trying to find the right person and chopping and changing too much.

"They have tried Steven Davies, they have tried Matt Prior and now Kieswetter. I think they are trying to get a bit of stability there and by giving him a big long run then they can make their mind up."

BOWLED OVER

With the exception of Steve Finn, who troubled all the India batsmen with his pace and aggression, none of the England bowlers really enhanced their reputations on this tour.
Graeme Swann was out-performed by the relatively unknown twirlers Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, Tim Bresnan was inconsistent and Jade Dernbach went from death bowler to drinks carrier in the space of a week.

Samit Patel leaked runs at six an over, while Stuart Meaker and Scott Borthwick were thrown in at the deep end and just about stayed afloat.

"Steve Finn was the shining light," says Hoggard. "He bowled with pace and aggression and was very unlucky not to pick up more wickets than he did.

"India are very good players of spin and have been brought up on these wickets. Graeme Swann has been the number one ODI bolwer so they will have planned not to take too many chances against him, but to target the other bowlers.

"Patel has had a good series, bowling some handy overs and showing what a destructive batter he can be. He can come away from this tour knowing he did ok."

THE VERDICT

The good news for England is that the 2015 World Cup is in Australia and New Zealand, where conditions will suit their players far better. The bad news is that England will not stand a chance of winning it unless they undergo a dramatic improvement in all areas of the one-day game.

"Don't forget, three months ago, India couldn't buy a win in England," says Hoggard. "It's a massive turn around in fortunes but you don't become a bad team overnight. Whether it's batting, bowling or fielding, England have to up their ante and back themselves to come out with a positive attitude."

Smith says: "Although it feels like a disappointing tour, if this group of players are going to go on and become as big a force in one-day cricket around the world as they want to, they will learn some lessons from this trip that will be very useful in the future. I imagine that some people will have found out some things about playing India that they won't forget."

To his supporters, he’s the team’s rock, their most dependable and consistent batsman, a player who does the dirty work while others steal the glory.

To his detractors – and judging by the anti-Trott emails that come into our inbox during live text commentaries there are plenty of them - he represents everything that is wrong with England’s approach to one-day cricket.

To them, his one-paced, risk-averse approach to batting is holding the team back and putting too much pressure on those around him to throw caution to wind.

Jonathan Trott scored 98 runs off 116 balls during England's defeat against India in Mohali. PHOTO Getty

Thursday’s third one-day international in Mohali offered plenty of ammunition to those on both sides of the divide.

Although Trott top-scored with 98 not out off 116 balls, England lost the match by five wickets as India chased down a target of 299 to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in their five-match one-day series.

To the naysayers, Trott’s inability to accelerate in the latter part of his innings – he didn’t score a single boundary in the last five overs – meant England weren’t able to pose a truly imposing total on a pitch where even Geoffrey Boycott’s mother and her well-worn stick of rhubarb would undoubtedly have thrived.

But the flipside of the argument is to ask yourself where England would be without Trott?

Despite missing out on a century, Trott was England’s top-scorer in Mohali, just as he has been in 14 of his 37 one-day international innings.

His steady accumulation allowed first Kevin Pietersen, and then Samit Patel, to give it some humpty  safe in the knowledge that there was someone at the other end that would be sticking around for the duration.

Trott’s batting average of 53, with three hundreds and 15 fifties, is 13 runs better than any other England player  to play more than 30 one-dayers, and places him fourth on the all-time list.

“But what about his strike rate?” I hear you cry. “It is not the quantity of runs, it is the snail-like speed at which he scores them.”

Trott averages 78.58 runs per 100 balls, placing him well off the pace of seasoned one-day destroyers like Virender Sehwag (104) and Shahid Afridi (113).

But compared with his rivals for a place in the England side, Trott’s numbers stack up rather nicely.

Alastair Cook has a similar strike rate of 78.59, but his average is only 37. Ravi Bopara, an infinitely more gifted strokeplayer than Trott, clocks in at 75, while Ian Bell - the player most likely to replace Trott in the England side - comes in at 73.37.

Of England’s regular top five, only Kevin Pietersen and Craig Kieswetter score more quickly than Trott, but while the former has not scored a one-day century in his last 33 innings, the latter has just one ton in his 26 ODI knocks.

Trott is never going to please the purists, his style of play will always have the capacity to frustrate, but he gives the England one-day side a dependability they have never really had, and in his ability to bat through an innings should be held up as an example to his under-performing team-mates.

He is a genuine run machine in all forms of the game and could finish his career with a better Test and one-day average than any other England player in history.

Perhaps, it’s Trott’s lot that he will not be fully appreciated until after he retires. 

As Joni Mitchell once sang, “you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone.”

The batsmen scored their “daddy” hundreds, the bowlers took 20 wickets over and over again, and Graeme Swann even got to unveil his new celebration after a match-winning performance on the final day at The Oval.

But inevitably, there were those whose stars shone brighter than others, and one or two who have a little work to put in before the winter tours.

Here are my player ratings. Have a read, then jump in with some of your own.

England"s team, including captain Andrew Strauss, celebrate winning the test series against India 4-0 at the Oval cricket ground. PHOTO: GETTY

Andrew Strauss (captain) - 6

On the face of it, 229 runs at 38 is not bad going but Strauss only went past 50 once, and even then his 87 at Edgbaston was totally eclipsed by Alastair Cook's 294. Plenty of starts, not enough substance, but Strauss gets an extra point for skippering England to the Test summit.

Alastair Cook - 7

"Chef's" offerings had been distinctly ordinary before the sumptuous feast he served up at Edgbaston. He batted for longer than any other England batsmen except Len Hutton during his 364, and set up England for a landslide victory. Despite producing very little in his other innings, the majesty of that knock lifts Cook above his skipper.

Jonathan Trott - 5

Opened up with 70 at Lord's but failed in his next three innings, the last of which can be discounted owing to the fact that he was effectively batting with one arm. Past record makes him a certainty for the Pakistan Tests in January.

Ian Bell - 9

What a series, what a year, what a player Bell has become. Two huge chance-less hundreds, the second a double, were both scored at his favoured number three position, but he will probably have to revert to five when Trott is fit again. A pleasure to watch – his cover drive and late cut are things of beauty - he misses out on a 10 due to self-confessed naivety in the Trent Bridge run-out saga.

Kevin Pietersen - 9

Will this go down as the series when KP finally rediscovered his mojo? After a pretty ordinary couple of years, he got to 100 the ugly way at Lord's before going through the gears to make 202 not out. Two 60s and a swashbuckling 175 at The Oval put him right up there with Bell. 

Eoin Morgan - 6

A class act against spin, the Dubliner scored a useful 70 to help England take control at Trent Bridge and a century at Edgbaston. But he was dropped twice on the way to three figures in Birmingham and question marks still remain against quality seam bowling.

Ravi Bopara - 6

Came in on a hiding to nothing at Edgbaston and was promptly out for seven, but looked comfortable in scoring 44 untroubled runs at The Oval. Given precious little chance to prove he can perform the Paul Collingwood role with the ball.

Matt Prior - 8

A total of 271 runs at 68 only tells half the story of a fantastic series for England's stumper. He got England out of jail with a counter-attacking hundred at Lord's and helped Tim Bresnan see off a wilting India attack at Trent Bridge. His glovework was infinitely superior to his opposite number MS Dhoni, but he blotted his copybook slightly by failing to appeal for a stumping of Sachin Tendulkar and dropping the Little Master on 85.

Tim Bresnan - 9

The Yorkshireman has a Test record that now reads played 10, won 10. He produced a supreme all-round performance on day four at Trent Bridge, smashing 90 runs and taking 5-48 to help England romp home. He followed that up with another fifty and nine more wickets in the last two Tests.

Stuart Broad - 10

If he was the bowling equivalent of Clark Kent against Sri Lanka, Broad was flying through the south London skies in a red cape by the end of the series. After opening up with a golden duck and a wide at Lord's, he snaffled 25 wickets at 13 and scored 182 runs at 60. Trent Bridge, when he came to England's rescue with bat and ball in the first innings, will go down as one of the great all-round displays.

Graeme Swann - 7

Did very little on unhelpful pitches in the first three Tests, but was hardly needed as England's three seamers were tearing through India. Finally showed his match-winning qualities on the final day at The Oval to finish the series on a high.

James Anderson - 8

After a five-fer at Lord's, England's Mr Consistency was slightly overshadowed by Broad and Bresnan but still managed to rack up 21 wickets at just under 26. Always capable of pulling an unplayable delivery out of the hat, the ball that uprooted VVS Laxman's off stump at The Oval will give the India veteran nightmares.

Chris Tremlett - 6

Just the one Test for big Chris before he was sidelined by hamstring trouble. His height gives him the steepling bounce off a length that can trouble any batsman, but faces a battle to win his place back from Bresnan for the Pakistan Tests.

Captain Andrew Strauss, his team-mates and coach Andy Flower have received most of the plaudits, while many have noted the importance of former coach Duncan Fletcher and ex-skipper Michael Vaughan in steering England towards the summit.

But over the past decade or so, several other figures have played fundamental roles in helping transform England into an ultra-professional winning machine.

Here are five of English cricket’s many unsung heroes.

Lord MacLaurin set about running the ECB as a lean, mean business. Photo: Getty

Position: ECB Chairman 1997-2002

A former chairman of Vodafone and Tesco, MacLaurin set about turning English cricket into a successful business on and off the pitch. He introduced central contracts to give the England management more control over the country’s finest players, and set up a National Academy, which was based in Adelaide in 2001 and 2002 before moving to its current home at Loughborough University.

He invested heavily in grassroots cricket and formulated a National Strategy for Cricket, with the stated aim of seeing England ranked number one in the world by 2007. We’ll forgive him the four-year wait.

“When I was captain and David Lloyd was coach, we talked about wanting central contracts but Ian MacLaurin was a very successful business man who came in and made that happen,” says former skipper Alec Stewart.

“Now the coach has total control over the England team. He can pull them out of county games or send them back in to regain form. You can have training camps, fitness camps, and it is no coincidence that since central contracts came in England have made massive progress.

Fiercely critical of himself and others, Nasser Hussain was a combative England captain. Photo: Getty

Nasser Hussain

England Test captain 1999-2003

Alongside Fletcher, Hussain oversaw a sea change in the mentality of the England cricket team. A fierce competitor, he demanded that his players gave everything on the field and made the side much tougher to beat. 

Often hamstrung by limited bowling resources, he was always on his toes, sometimes making as many as four field changes in a single over in an effort to break a partnership.

After an inauspicious start – he was famously booed on the balcony at the Oval after a home defeat by New Zealand - Hussain led England to series victories in Pakistan and Sri Lanka as he became the first captain since Mike Brearley to win four Test series in a row.

Aided by central contracts and Fletcher’s no-nonsense approach, he ensured Michael Vaughan’s inheritance was a team in the truest sense of the word.

But one frontier remained to be crossed: regaining the Ashes.

Cooley (left) is credited with overseeing the early development of several top English bowlers. Photo: Getty

Troy Cooley

England bowling coach 2003-2006

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, England had plenty of talented bowlers, but rarely did they boast a true attack, a collection of talents each offering different but complimentary skills.

Cooley, a Tasmanian who never played international cricket, was lured to England by his compatriot Rod Marsh and, after initially working with the ECB Academy, he soon became involved with the senior bowlers.

In 2005, he helped mould Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Andrew Flintoff and Simon Jones into a formidable unit, using a blend of raw pace, seam movement and reverse swing to repeatedly dismantle Australia’s much-vaunted batting line-up.

So fundamental was his role in helping England win the Ashes back that Australia promptly snatched him back the following year.

“Troy Cooley was a tremendous bowling coach who helped fine-tune the actions of Harmison, Flintoff and Jones,” says Stewart. “They already had the talent but he provided that extra pair of eyes off the field and just kept pointing them in the right direction.”

A terrific batsman in his day, Gooch continues to pass on his considerable expertise. Photo: Getty

Graham Gooch

England batting coach Nov 2009-present

When Ishant Sharma was blowing a hole in the England batting order on the fourth day at Lord’s, one man on the home balcony looked particularly distressed.

It was Graham Gooch, whose sterling work has helped ensure that such middle-order collapses are largely a thing of the past.

Gooch is a father figure to many of the England batsmen, who look to meet his demand for the “daddy” hundreds that really alter the course of matches.

Anyone doubting Gooch’s influence should contemplate the following statistic. In the past 15 months, England’s batsmen have scored six double-centuries in Test cricket, the same number they managed in the previous 15 years. 

“Even when I played under his captaincy he always used to say you never had enough runs,” says Stewart. “If you got to 100, go and get 150. When he got to 300, that wasn’t enough so he went and got 333. They are the standards you have to set if you want to be the best team in the world.”

Huw Bevan (left) must take credit for an incredibly athletic England side. Photo: Getty

Huw Bevan

England fitness coach 2009-present

Even to the untrained eye, the difference in the fitness levels and athleticism between the England team and their Indian counterparts is striking.

Fielding coach Richard Halsall takes much of the credit for their agility and skill, but the role of Huw Bevan in turning them into true athletes should not be overlooked.

A former rugby union hooker, Bevan was a conditioning coach at Ospreys before joining the England cricket set-up via Glamorgan.

He structures the indoor and outdoor fitness sessions that are such a big part of a modern sportsman’s training, and also oversaw Stuart Broad and Steven Finn when they took time out of the game for “strength and conditioning” training.

Many an eye-brow was raised at the decision among the ex-cricketer fraternity but few were complaining when both bowlers emerged leaner, stronger and with deliveries regularly touching the 90 mile-per-hour mark.

“You only have to stand alongside one of the England players to see that they are athletes not cricketers now,” says BBC Cricket Correspondent Jonathan Agnew.

“They are incredibly fit and lean human beings and they work astonishingly hard.”