Dubai: England skipper Paul Collingwood woke up on Tuesday morning savouring a feeling that has eluded former captains in the finals of limited-over competitions — winning.
Collingwood and his Caribbean kings finally ended the nation's 35-year wait for a world title with a convincing victory over Australia in the final of the Twenty20 World Cup, and in doing so, banished the ghosts of former failures.
This was the country, remember, who had gloriously failed to win any of their other four world finals in the 50-over format.
Thankfully, that sorry statistic has now been consigned to the trash can of history, and while Collingwood can reflect on a hugely impressive campaign in the West Indies, England's long-suffering fans can look forward to the future with a new-found belief in their team.
"To be the first [English] team to win a World Cup is very special," Collingwood told the media after he had guided his team home with three full overs remaining on Sunday.
"We knew it was a monkey on our back. We knew what it meant and that is why I am so pleased that these last two performances in such pressurised situations were absolutely spot on."
The fact that England achieved the victory in such a ruthless fashion speaks volumes about the team's new-found strength in this format.
Their bowlers restricted Australia to 147 for six and then, thanks mainly to a second wicket stand of 111 between South African-born duo Craig Kieswetter, the man of the match, who made 63 and Kevin Pietersen, the man of the tournament, who struck 47, they finished on 151 for three.
"I think belief has been a huge thing — you can see from the way the guys have gone out from first ball, believing in themselves and taking it to the opposition and playing a brand of cricket that is unlike England in the past," Collingwood said.
"I think a lot of credit goes to every single player in the dressing room to have the confidence to go out there and really give it their best shots and have no regrets.
"We thoroughly deserve the victory, because the way we've played throughout the tournament has been consistent and we have also been taking the game to the opposition.
"We've had a lot of belief, and the guys have thought very well for themselves and made the right decisions. In the end, we've turned up on a big occasion like this and we've performed," he added.
Few had seriously taken England as genuine contenders in the Caribbean — not surprising when you consider their previous record in limited over competitions.
Losses in 1979, 1987 and 1992 World Cups and the 2004 Champions Trophy had been a bitter pill to swallow for the Barmy Army. But apart from the Duckworth-Lewis-induced madness of the group stages, England's loyal band of travelling fans had been treated to a relatively anxious-free run to the final, although Collingwood himself was taking nothing for granted against the old enemy.
"No chance. Not with what they did against Pakistan the other day," he said, referring to Australia's heroic run chase against Pakistan on Friday. "Obviously if you want to be the best, you've got to beat the best and it was a great performance."
"When we got those three early wickets we gave ourselves a great opportunity to put them under pressure."
UK commentators: Why did it take so long?
British commentators yesterday savoured the England cricketers' "crushing victory over the old enemy" after they beat Australia in the World Twenty20.
"England gave one-day cricket to the world almost half a century ago and finally, after decades of international hurt, they have drawn a dividend from their invention," said the Times.
"They won their first ICC event with such ease that you had to wonder what took them so long."
The Daily Mail noted it had been "a ridiculously long wait for England's first one-day title since the World Cup."
"But they finally and gloriously lifted one at the 18th attempt yesterday with a crushing victory over the old enemy."
The Guardian hailed South African-born batsmen Craig Kieswetter and Kevin Pietersen, who starred for England.
The pair "had exposed how uncharacteristically timid the Australian batting had been, and all but sealed the match," said the paper.
England, chasing 148 to win, after reducing a previously unbeaten Australian side at this tournament to eight for three, saw Kieswetter (63) and Pietersen (47) put on 111 for the second wicket at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.
As far as the Guardian was concerned, the win meant the team had finally arrived in the one-day game. "Suddenly England feel like a force in international one-day cricket. Winning this tournament is a major achievement," it said.
With input from agencies
