LONDON: He's back, still kicking stuff out of the crease, still restricting his feet movements to a minimum, still punching the ball through the off-side, picking his own tempo; as assured as he has ever been but still aware enough of his public image to hit Muttiah Muralitharan for a six to pass fifty.

Marcus Trescothick, of course. He batted at Lord's on Thursday as if there had never been a virus or a personal problem or a nervous breakdown.

From the moment Andrew Flintoff, captain for the first time in England, won the toss on a pitch as true and friendly as you could wish to start a return to international cricket, Trescothick looked as if scoring runs was easier than riding the train. Sri Lanka helped by putting up an attack without venom, held together most of the time by Chaminda Vaas's precise attack on off stump.

Solid stand

Trescothick and Andrew Strauss looked at home throughout the morning but off the last over before lunch Strauss played a careless shot that hinted at a wish to be back in the pavilion for a salad and a glass of something refreshing, edged a ball from Murali to silly point and was gone for 48.

The opening stand of 86 and the moment of his dismissal provided Alastair Cook with the comforting feeling of walking to the crease with a partner — as he does for Essex — and within a couple of balls he was clearly settled. The greatest compliment I can pay him is that a couple of times I mistook him for Trescothick.

He is an intelligent lad. He has enough shots for any cricket situation and enough words to describe a taxi ride through Mumbai as including "20 near death experiences."

He is as self-assured as Theo Walcott, soccer's new wonder boy, and that is saying a lot. He had to play second fiddle to Trescothick who had 75 of the first 159 in 50 overs, decent pace before tea on the first day of a Test. By that interval England had 199 for one, the basis for 600 and victory before Sanath Jayasuriya arrives on a mission to prove his worth all over again.

Murali should have had another wicket when Cook was plumb lbw. Umpire Koersten is famous for his delayed decisions but we are still waiting for his finger to rise.

Cricket is here to stay

We can read into everything that happened here today that — never mind the football World Cup, Wimbledon and the Open Golf, all a few weeks away — cricket has made its mark in this country in an unprecedented way.

The Ashes victory has clearly awaked the nation to the possibility that a day at the Test may provide the ultimate in excitement and down-to-the-wire sporting thrills.

It was a beautiful day, with the sort of early spring weather that makes you think of all the cricket images: on the village green under the shade of a great oak, of David Gower's batting and Fred Trueman's bowling.

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