There were sensational scenes as England landed a history-making World T20 crown to become the first men’s team ever to be dual world champions by beating Pakistan at the MCG on Sunday.
Watching captain Jos Buttler lift the treasured trophy aloft there was an immense sense of pride, but also huge relief at the amazing achievement.
It was the culmination of years of hard work, a seven-year journey which took England from white-ball no hopers to a dominant force on the limited-overs world stage.
Matthew Mott’s side added the T20 title to their famous 50-over triumph three years ago.
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But anything less than winning one of the two World Cups in the last two years, they lost in the semi-finals last time round, would have been deemed a failure for this incredible group of players.
Now is the time to savour this monumental moment and reflect on a sensational tournament triumph, but the cricket conveyor belt keeps churning on and all eyes will quickly turn to their 50-over title defence in India next year.
If England are to successfully hold on to their coveted crown, and make it three global gongs in four attempts, they will have to do so without the calmness of talisman Ben Stokes.
Test skipper Stokes is the biggest of big-match players. He’s stood up so often for his country that his team-mates refer to him as “superman”. The gutsy Durham gun guided England to success in both finals when the chips were down. But their kryptonite could be trying to win a World Cup without him and his experience on the biggest stage.
Stokes retired from the 50-over format this summer citing the “dangerous” amount of cricket in the calendar. It’s a huge hole Buttler and Mott will have to fill between now and next October.
Could they convince him into a u-turn? It’s undoubtedly worth the conversation, but with a big Test tour to India in early 2024 that seems extremely unlikely. He will want the rest after next summer’s Ashes series.
And not to mention how unlucky somebody would be to miss out after playing the matches heading into the tournament to make way for him.
For Mott, who led Australia’s all-conquering women’s side to 50-over glory earlier this year, it will be a shot at a historic hat-trick.
The only question that remains for this world-beating side is just how far can they go?
Can they emulate the dominance of the late-90s and noughties Aussie side where it was almost a given they would turn up and take the trophy home in their suitcase?
A lot will depend on the future of the players who have built this team into the class outfit that it is.
With Buttler at the helm, England have a shrewd operator. Many questioned how well they would fare once Eoin Morgan retired, but Buttler has always had brilliant situational awareness with the bat and that has shone in his captaincy. They are in safe hands.
But with the World Cup in India, the big factor will be the spin options. Does Adil Rashid have the desire to carry on?
The priceless leg-spinner had some tough critics labelling him as a spent force during this tournament, but that was extremely harsh. The wicket stats didn’t tell the full story and his economical spells in the semi-final and final were huge parts of their conquest.
Rashid is 34-years-old, but he has suffered with chronic shoulder issues in the past. He could quite easily hang up his boots with two famous World Cup medals to hang on the mantelpiece.
Who knows what will happen between now and next year’s World Cup?
One thing is for certain, enjoy this England side whilst it lasts because we have never enjoyed success like this.
