Following the terrible events in Mumbai a couple of weeks ago, I wrote a blog for these pages which suggested that it would be a mistake for the England cricket team to return to India. The danger was too great and concentration, by all the players, on the matches would be impossible. My thinking was based on the worrying build-up of the Indian army on the Pakistan border and the uncertainty that this atrocity was an isolated incident. Well, fellow Test Cricket betting fans, I was wrong. Our cricketers have returned and cricket is now better for it. The first match is being played as though nothing had happened and the dark forces of terrorism have been shown their impotence in their efforts to make any serious impact on the way our life is conducted in the free world.

The first match started yesterday with England looking like they were up for making a game of it but, after a magnificent 123 from Strauss, the predictable collapse kicked in. Cook was the only other upper order bat to make a mark with a half century and then the plucky Prior matched it to save the England blushes. A total of 315 runs hardly seemed enough, however, and the formidable Indian batsmen were expected to cruise by this. England hopes were boosted with the early fall of Verendar SewagÂ’s wicket and the unsettling of Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid when Pietersen put Freddie Flintoff on to replace the injured Harmison. Then miracle of miracles, Graeme Swann in his debut Test over, took the wickets of both Gambhir and Dravid with India on 37 and our score suddenly looking a bit good. I left it after Flintoff and Panesar had inflicted further damage and with India looking shaky on 105 for 5.

But you know what? Reporting on the play in this match seems barely relevant. Cricket betting enthusiasts know itÂ’s not about the scoreline and who dominates the game. ItÂ’s about the fact we are there and standing side-by-side with our Indian friends. ItÂ’s about showing that life goes on and itÂ’s about celebrating the coming together to play five days of Test cricket. And, with this the most talked about match in India for years, it is an apt moment to remind people that, while Twenty20 is an exciting diversion, this is historic cricket in its finest and most creative form.