[Continuity of selection] helps, ... You don't want to be going out there thinking, 'This could be your last game, if you don't get a wicket you're out'. In the last 12 to 18 months this team has done some special things because we've been consistent in selection. Fletch and [Michael] Vaughan have a lot of faith in the people they select.

I don't think I'll score more important runs in my career and I don't think Hoggy will hit a better extra cover drive in his career.

[It is not a comfort zone; as Chris Read and Graham Thorpe discovered, players do get dropped. But rookies get a run first and changes are usually made with a view to the long term. The team have thus been able to grow together and bond. The side Giles came into was a wary one with some players playing primarily for themselves, an inevitable consequence of chop-and-change team selection. Now they are a team.] It's a completely different atmosphere to '98, ... It's much more professional and we are much more together. I found it quite tricky in '98. No disrespect to anyone in that side, because players made me feel welcome, but it was very disjointed. Now we are basically another county team. We know each other that well. We've played that much cricket together.

You can understand it in some ways with Andrew Flintoff bowling at 90mph in dark light,

We've come a long way since Lord's,

Everyone is on edge, the dressing room is very quiet and it is a 'this can't be happening to us' sort of scenario.