IN 1999 the English Test cricket team was ranked the worst in the world. Introducing reforms, the England and Wales Cricket Board set itself the target of making England the world's best Test team by 2007. England did win a memorable Ashes series against Australia in 2005, but by 2007 they had not made it to the top. Four years later they succeeded. Followers of English cricket, worn down by three decades of defeat, are still pinching themselves.
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