But when he did come on he was by far the best bowler on show (from an England point of view). Maybe they went into the game with an attack in mind, but some players (Lewis, Plunkett and in Australia's case Johnson) may have played themselves out of contention while others (Panesar and again in Aus's case Clark) may have made a very case.

Vaughan was always likely to leave the field early, and Flintoff was forced off, so it may have been the plan to get Monty on at that stage, and it just happened to be when Collingwood was in charge.

For me the big decision, and the one we are nowhere near settling, is who opens with Anderson, as none of the candidates covered themselves in glory.