Pietersen a revelation but the real test is yet to come

England's stirring finish to the 2008 international season, inspired by Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, has left all the country's cricket fans feeling upbeat and chipper. Suddenly the future looks bright and the dark days of Headingley and Edgbaston, where England lost two Tests and one of their finest captains, Michael Vaughan, seem like a distant memory. It is as though the events didn't really happen.

But they did, and although the results and performance of the team since Vaughan's resignation are hugely encouraging it is still far too early to begin thinking that England, under Pietersen, are on the verge of becoming a world-conquering team. Next year's Wisden Almanack, cricket's bible, will show that England won the final Test of the summer and were deprived of an extremely rare 5-0 one-day whitewash only by inclement weather in Cardiff.

But, more importantly, it will also highlight that South Africa won their first Test series in England since readmission when Graeme Smith pulled Pietersen for four at Edgbaston a month ago. Lifting the Basil D'Oliveira Trophy was the principal goal of the tourists, and having achieved it they were guilty of revelling in their success and becoming complacent. To England's credit, they fully capitalised on South Africa taking their collective eye off the ball.

Surely the displays put on by England under Pietersen suggest that better days lie ahead?

They do. Pietersen has been a revelation. Very few people would have expected him to have such a positive and immediate impact. His appointment has rejuvenated the England team. For some the jury will remain out for a little longer yet. England have been winning, and captaining a team is always easier when this is the case. It is how Pietersen reacts when England lose a couple of matches and things fail to go to plan that will give a truer indication of his leadership skills. It is in situations like this that Pietersen has let himself down in the past, occasionally taking his frustrations out on teammates by saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. Being captain, however, may well prevent him reacting in such a way.

Pietersen needs to pace himself too. His month in charge has resembled the start of an intense relationship when one partner cannot leave the other alone. His desire to encourage and support colleagues has empowered them. He needs to take a step back every now and then to avoid burning himself out. He will find time to relax, it is hoped, before focusing on England's next major game on 1 November – the $20m (£11.25m) Twenty20 match against a Sir Allen Stanford's All Star XI in Antigua.

The form and fitness of Flintoff has been as encouraging as Pietersen's captaincy. When a player of Flintoff's ability is at his best most teams and captains look good. He offers so much. December 2005 was the last time Vaughan had the pleasure of captaining Flintoff in Test cricket.

There are other reasons to be hopeful too. Pietersen is a brave, aggressive captain. In the final Test at The Oval he batted Flintoff at six and selected five bowlers. For him the glass always seems half-full, whereas captains that have been around the block a few times are often more concerned with hanging on to what they have got than taking strides forward.

And didn't Stephen Harmison look good, too?

They did. Harmison is bowling well and appears hungry for Test and one-day wickets, which is great news for England. Like Flintoff, when Harmison is at his best England are a completely different side. The bowling suddenly becomes as threatening as any in the world. The only word of caution is that we have been here before with Harmison. Like England's form under Pietersen, we need to see Harmison bowl well over a longer period of time to truly believe that he has regained the form of 2004, when he was rightly ranked as the best bowler in the world.

What about Darren Pattinson?

Let's not go there.

It was not all good on the bowling front though was it; what about Monty Panesar?

Panesar is at an interesting and important stage in his development. He is a fine bowler but his bowling does not seem to be progressing. Shane Warne's comment that, "Panesar does not look like a bowler who has played 33 Tests but like a bowler who has played the same Test 33 times" is damning but fair.

Panesar is a match-winner on pitches, like Old Trafford, that suit his style of bowling but he struggles to adapt his bowling when it does not. Judging the pace at which to bowl is vital for a spinner because different surfaces react differently to different styles of slow bowling. Until Panesar learns to adjust he will fail to be a consistent match-winner. Samit Patel will not put Panesar's Test place under pressure even though he bowled very well in the one-day series. He is not in Panesar's class.

What about the batsmen?

Was all the speculation earlier in the summer nothing more than media hype or are they still underperforming? With the exception of Pietersen they continue to do enough, just. Whether Pietersen continues to tolerate that will be interesting. In Test cricket Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Michael Vaughan, Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood shared 48 completed innings but posted only four hundreds. Cook was the most consistent of the group and he should be exempt from criticism, but more is required from the remaining four.

Vaughan is currently out of the side but he, like the other three, seemed to post a big score only when his place in the side was under threat. Strauss scored a hundred in the second Test against New Zealand then fell away against South Africa, Bell struck a brilliant 199 against South Africa at Lord's but averaged under 20 throughout the rest of the summer, whilst Collingwood compiled a courageous career saving 135 against the Proteas but averaged just 21.5 in his other six innings.

England are now only 10 months away from the Ashes; how are they positioned?

It is hard to judge. Does a consolatory Test win and an impressive one-day triumph under a vibrant, ambitious captain override a year of inconsistent and at times mediocre cricket? It should not – but there is a sense of purpose about England under Pietersen, as there was before the 2005 Ashes when they won six Test series in a row. England's displays will have been noted by Australia but they will not be quaking in their boots just yet.

The next few months will provide a strong indication. If England can win in India confidence and hope will rightly rise. How South Africa fare against Australia will be enlightening too. Australia are more vulnerable than they like to admit. They will continue to post big totals but, understandably, they are struggling to replace Warne and Glenn McGrath.

If England's batsmen can bat consistently next summer and bowlers who played in the just-finished NatWest Series remain fit and in form there is the potential for 2005 to be revisited.

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