First of all, it had a fantastic pitch that allowed a fair contest between bat and ball. If you batted really well you could make runs; if you bowled well you could get wickets. If all Test matches were played on pitches such as this, people would be satisfied and thrilled with the quality of cricket.

England outplayed India in batting, bowling and fielding, and deserved to win. But the Indian rope trick got India out of jail. If the rain hadn't arrived to save them, India would have lost because of their bowling in the first two sessions of the match.

Their seam bowling lacked direction, commitment and intensity and allowed England the luxury of reaching 197 for one by tea. You cannot give anyone that sort of start in any sport. Fancy giving Seb Coe 50 metres start in an 800m race and then try catching him! You have to be ready from the first ball. When their bowlers got it together, India took eight wickets for 46 runs, but by that time the damage was done.

That takes nothing away from England's exceptional performance -- the three reserve seamers bowled out of their skin. They bowled as if every ball was important, and got stuck into India's batsmen from the word go. Their intensity and aggression blew India's middle order away. Two of the best players in the world with the best techniques, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, were made to look ordinary.

I have always been a fan of Jimmy Anderson because he has a natural ability to move the ball around, either with swing or seam. If you bowl lightning-fast like Michael Holding did, you don't need to do much with the ball. But if you are fast-medium you are not going to get good players out in Test cricket unless you do something with the ball.

For the past few years Anderson has been sitting on his bottom in the England dressingroom or on occasion has been injured. All he has needed is plenty of bowling in matches, as no one gets better at anything if they don't play. This summer Anderson has played championship matches for Lancashire and that has been the difference. When you are bowling regularly you get wickets, your confidence goes up and you know where the ball is going.

Ryan Sidebottom has been a revelation. He just looks a quality bowler. Some people say to me: "OK, he does all right in England, but how will he do in Sri Lanka on their flat pitches?" I say that Chaminda Vaas bowls left-arm over at the same pace as Sidebottom and he seems to do OK.

Chris Tremlett was a surprise choice ahead of Stuart Broad. Lord's can be a difficult ground for bowlers, especially if, like Tremlett, you have not played a championship game here. It can take time to come to terms with the slope.

Tremlett was obviously comfortable from the Pavilion End, but he struggled when he switched to the Nursery End for a couple of overs. There have been some great bowlers who have found it difficult to bowl at both ends at Lord's, however.

Although Monty Panesar didn't have a big say in this match, he is now a high-quality bowler. Batsmen are not going to take him apart, so Michael Vaughan can always exert some control when Monty bowls.

I thought Kevin Pietersen's batting was outstanding. He thrilled the crowd towards the end of his innings, but what I liked most was his discipline early on. He and Vaughan knew it was important not to lose wickets on Saturday night and first thing on Sunday morning.

We all know that Kevin has got tremendous shot-playing talent, but we want to see him learn to assess situations and play to them. I thought he did splendidly and there is no wonder he rates this as his best Test hundred. If he plays like this every time he takes a week's holiday, perhaps the selectors should let him have a week off more often. Maybe he should take the rest of the batsmen with him.

I'm sorry that Andrew Strauss didn't get a hundred because I believe that sport is as much about character as talent. His 96 might not have been the most aesthetically pleasing innings he has played, but if ever a guy deserved a hundred for sheer determination, this was it.

(England great Geoffrey Boycott wrote this article for The Daily Telegraph website).