Andrew Strauss hails turnaround

But he admitted that when play finally got going yesterday afternoon after yet another protracted rain delay, he was having entirely different feelings.

"This morning I was saying this was one of the drabbest matches I've ever played and suddenly it changes round so quickly. That is great credit to the guys."

Strauss was part of the England side that lost to Australia at Adelaide in 2006 despite posting 551 for six in the first innings of the game.

While that dramatic reversal came to mind even in the afterglow of this result, he admitted he could not think of a less likely win in his time. "There's not a more remarkable finish I can think of," he said. "We were very keen to press for a victory but obviously we thought it was going to be a long shot to achieve it.

"I suppose our defeat in Adelaide was similar in a way. It's one of those situations where the full pressure of Test match cricket can come to bear on a team and you need guys to stand up and get past that.

"Thankfully we were able to make sure their guys weren't able to do that. We showed quite a lot of ruthlessness in Australia this winter and this was another example of that."

Official figures recorded just 922 fans coming through the turnstiles to witness England's win, but Strauss was pleased with the way his side managed to fashion a sense of occasion "That was one of the big challenges for us, to create our own feeling of intensity," he said.

"It was a small crowd but they got into it and all credit to them for doing so."