Leading article: 'Owzat!

Only viewers with hearts of stone could have failed to feel a surge of emotion in the closing stages of the Test at Trent Bridge, where England gained its knife-edge victory over Australia.

It is not simply the fact that by trouncing its old rival, this triumph brought the possibility of winning the Ashes at the fourth, final Test at the Oval within unbearably close reach. It was also the sight of the raw joy gripping the faces of the thousands of spectators when England took its final two runs, and which was clearly a reflection of the feelings of the millions of others watching the match at home on television.

Whether this remarkable Test has been the cause, or just the symptom, we seem to be in the throes of a renaissance of cricket - a once universally loved but now neglected national sport. For years it has been a poor relation to football, its decline symbolised by the falling number of children playing cricket at school. If the sport the English invented is at last reviving in the land of its origins, that can only be good thing.

There are certainly plenty of encouraging signs, from the sell-out crowds at the Test itself to the impressive television viewing figures and the rise in sales of cricket bats and other equipment in shops.

No doubt this renaissance will inspire cerebral discussions about what lies behind it and whether it constitutes a part of a wider revival of interest in all things English. We suspect it is less complicated. Cricket has become popular again because the English cricket team has rediscovered the formula for success. Quite simply, everyone loves a winner.