Liam Plunkett gets it together

Liam Plunkett had been Down Under a couple of months before England let him have a game. Understandably, he was crap in that match, as you would be if you'd suddenly gone from long-term virtual isolation to professional sport in front of thousands and thousands of people.

But from then on he got better and better, culminating today in his destruction of Australia's top order. He got Gilchrist for 20, Ponting for seven and Clarke for a duck. If you can do that, you've gone a long way to winning a cricket match.

Plunkett's form has coincided with England's resurgence. Since the nadir of 110 all out against Australia a few matches back, Plunkett's contributions read 3-54 and 25 not out; 3-24 and 10 not out; 3-60 and 15 not out; 0-56 without batting; and today 3-43 and 8 not out.

None of those statistics are spectacular in their own right, but add them up and you see that here is a cricketer who is contributing. 12 wickets at 19.75 and 58 runs without being dismissed.

Handy.