Before this summer England would have felt they had plenty of batting and fast-bowling options but were still short of a wicket-keeping all-rounder and a match-winning spinner. But following the outstanding performances of Ashley Giles and Geraint Jones the selectors must now feel they have every department covered. England last won seven in a row 75 years ago - eight victories would set a national record. But they still have some way to go before their success receives the same recognition as England's World Cup winning rugby team. This should in no way belittle the achievements of the 15 players used by England during the past 14 weeks. Under the excellent leadership of Vaughan and Duncan Fletcher, the England coach, they have played with flair, courage, discipline and a smile It has been a joy to watch But the results have to be put in context. New Zealand and the West Indies arrived in England ranked as the seventh and eighth best Test-playing nations in the world.Make no mistake, England are a good side - the best the country has produced for more than 20 years. England's seventh consecutive Test victory, sealed on Saturday with an emphatic 10-wicket win over a broken West Indian side at the Oval, completed a historic summer.

Michael Vaughan's victorious side will have to wait 12 months before they are given the ultimate sporting accolade - a ticker-tape parade around central London in an open top bus And quite rightly so. He was well caught at short extra cover five overs before the draw was declared, and just one run away from a deserved half-century. A flourishing free press was born, centred in Syria, and the authorities were forced by their own citizens to concede a succession of reforms.Britain and France rewarded them by invading their countries, imposing compliant governments to give us control of their oil wealth, and opening Palestine to European colonisation, then abandoning it to partition and perpetual war. She is becoming more relaxed in herself, too; her lad has done a very good job."The best of the British challengers in the Morny was fourth-placed Captain Hurricane, but one of the day's prizes did go back across the Channel when the marathon feature, the mile and seven-furlong Prix Kergorlay, was taken by the topically-named Gold Medallist. Their nerves might have been shredded by the time proceedings were called off, but the steely character that Warwickshire displayed in turning what looked like defeat into a hard-fought draw may yet be the making of them as County Champions. Before his drugs-related problems, Gallagher had ridden extensively in France and is scheduled to be back in action at Vichy on Saturday..

Dean Gallagher, who won the 2002 Champion Hurdle but eight months later picked up an 18-month ban from riding from the Jockey Club after testing positive to cocaine for a second time, has joined Fran?s Doumen as stable jockey, replacing the trainer's recently-retired son, Thierry. Earlier, the Cheveley Park Stud colour-bearer Chorist (William Haggas) put up a stout effort to come in third to proven mudlark Whortleberry in the Prix Jean Romanet. But the other contest for females, the Prix de La Nonette, already devalued by the withdrawal of Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe contender Latice because of the extreme ground, began and ended in chaos, and was declared void after one stall opened late and three runners ignored the false start recall.And from a French farce, to a new French connection. The four-year-old, trained by David Elsworth for Jeff Smith, made every yard under Richard Hughes to account for last year's St Leger winner Brian Boru by a length and a half, four years after the late Persian Punch won the Group 2 contest for the same connections. "She is balanced and easy to ride, and every time she races she climbs another step. "She's proved herself a really top-class filly," said Lemaire.