England recorded a thrilling victory against Bangladesh at the weekend to go 1-0 up in the series but it was a tight game and as we head into the series finale, I can't help but wonder, have England actually gone anywhere since the arrival of Trevor Bayliss in 2015?
England have produced some superb performances in the last year and a half. Bowling Australia out for 60 and beating them by an innings, going to South Africa and winning a series, beating Sri Lanka by an innings and overturning a 103 run 1st innings deficit to overcome Pakistan.
But that can be contrasted with some abject displays. Finishing the 2015 Ashes, the South Africa series and the home Pakistan series with an innings, 280 run and 10 wicket defeat in those games respectively, as well as a convincing defeat in the UAE against Pakistan.
Bayliss' record read 9 won, 7 lost, 3 drawn heading into the Bangladesh series. Not a bad win percentage, but too many defeats. After the same number of games, Andy Flower's record as England coach read 11 wins, 4 draws and 4 loses. Like Bayliss, that period included series' against Pakistan, an Ashes and a South Africa tour for Flower, so when judging Bayliss, he is narrowly behind the Zimbabwean.
This could be hugely important tour for Bayliss' England coaching career
That's fine, as long as England are going somewhere. What's been disappointing is England haven't been able to build momentum as they just can't finish a series off. England have won just 1 of their last 11 series finishes, losing 8 of those. This is what makes it so important to win this one.
If England want to head into the Indian Series in December with some momentum, they need to get the job done here. They need to learn how to finish a series at their best. They may well need to in India, and they may well need to in Australia in 2017/18.
Ben Stokes and Johnny Bairstow showed their class against spin in the match, displaying how much they've come on in the last year, but they need to keep it going into the next match. Too often players have performed brilliantly well in one test, and then poorly in the next one in the Bayliss era.
Stokes need look no further than the Ashes 2015 and South Africa 2016 for poor batting performances in final tests after playing a key role earlier in both series. He managed just 58 across those four innings at an average of 14.5. He will need to keep up his solid start with the bat into the second test.
Stokes was the obvious man of the match, performing excellently with the ball too.
The Ashes 2017/18 may seem winnable as long as England step up for the 5 matches, but they need a period of perfect form first. A clear of example of why this is needed comes in rugby, and Stuart Lancaster's era as England boss. Like the Bayliss era so far, England had performed very well in the 4 years before the World Cup, but failed to put together 5 consecutive wins.
It was a decent period but they would ultimately go on to rue that lack of momentum and when it mattered they didn't have enough. They lacked confidence, and when times got tough they didn't believe they were capable of sorting it out.
A couple of whitewashes mixed in with consistently strong performances is what they need. Bangladesh away is not easy, but it's the easiest away tour their going to have before Australia, and they need to show they can win in non-English conditions, and win well.
It's vital to build a winning culture and a comfortableness. England need to become confident, because when it does come down to the Ashes next year, and they are in a hole in a crucial match, they need to find that confidence to carry on with the bat, or believe that a wicket is on its way. This is something you can't coach, your players need to deliver it with performances in the preceding period.
So for England the pressure is on, they will need to make sure they all get up for it. The first test will have taken a lot out of them physically and mentally. They really had to grind it out, in difficult conditions, and will potentially need to do so again here.
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