Bell and Troughton signal bright future with stylish victory

Essex 181-8 Warwickshire 182-5 Warwicks win by 5 wickets

As a game of cricket, this one-sided Benson and Hedges Cup final between Warwickshire and Essex may not live long in the memory. The ease with which a disciplined Warwickshire team overcame a below-par Essex side, with five wickets and 82 balls to spare, was to the sponsors (in their final final at Lord's) more of a silver-plated bracelet as a retirement present than a gold watch.

From the second ball on Saturday, when Shaun Pollock, Warwickshire's South African opening bowler, found the outside edge of Nasser Hussain's bat, Essex were playing catch up, and, through the failure of some of their players to handle the occasion as well as their opponents, never made it back in to the match.

The value of Saturday's disappointing contest, however – just like Middlesex's NatWest final against Worcestershire in 1988, where an 18-year-old Mark Ramprakash won the man of the match award – may only be visible a couple of years down the line, when the likes of Ian Bell and Jim Troughton could be taking on and beating Australia for the Ashes. If this were to happen, and it might very well in the summer of 2005, we will all nostalgically look back at this match as the one that gave these two youngsters an opportunity to express themselves on the big stage for the first time.

Without doubt the highlight of this game was the 84-run partnership between the 20-year-old Gold Award winner Bell and his 23-year-old accomplice, Troughton. Coming together in front of 25,000 spectators at the home of cricket, with Warwickshire precariously placed at 21 for 2 and still needing a further 161 for victory, this pair suggested that few things in the game are likely to phase them out.

It was the style with which Bell and Troughton who, before yesterday's encounter, had only one experience of playing at Lord's between them, aggressively snatched this match out of Essex's grasp that impressed most. In 72 balls, they made what could have been a nervy encounter seem like a stroll in the park.

Both players, who are good friends and room together on away trips, were keen to stress how much they enjoy batting together and how their differing styles compliment each other.

From the moment the short but well-built Bell walked out on to the field, one got the feeling that here was a man in total control of what he was doing. The ginger-headed right-hander, like all good players, looks calm at the crease and has a routine which he goes through before each delivery is faced.

There is minimal movement before the bowler lets go of the ball and a smooth, sure step into the line as the delivery approaches him. He is solid in defence but capable of putting good balls as well as bad ones away for four. If there was one shot that summed up his class on Saturday afternoon, it was a drive on the up through the covers. He held his position for so long after the ball had been hit that a pin-hole camera could have captured the event.

The left-handed Troughton, meanwhile, seems more of a free spirit. He plants his foot down the wicket, in a Lance Klusener-like manner, and looks to hit anything slightly over pitched or wide of the off stump. He may be about three stone lighter than the South African all-rounder but his first three scoring shots, crashing drives through the covers, were hit almost as hard.

The method of his dismissal, when he went for one big drive too many and edged a simple catch through to the wicket-keeper, showed he still has quite a way to go before being considered the finished article, but like Bell there is a touch of class there for all to see.

One of the reasons that Bell was overlooked for the first England squad of the summer, against Sri Lanka, was that, while the selectors had heard good reports from advisors, they personally had not seen a great deal of him.

Having fielded at extra cover and mid-wicket for the best part of 30 overs on Saturday, Hussain, the England captain, now has first-hand experience of his capabilities, and surely cannot overlook him again, should a position in England's top six become available.