CRICKET/Ashes Series: Cricket has been catapulted to the forefront of the public consciousness in England this summer. The pulsating second Test, especially the final day, gripped the watching nation. Many who watched are now converts able to talk authoritatively of Fred and Harmy and Warnie's slider; there really is no better advertisement than success.
But today the teams have to consign their euphoria and disappointment to history and start all over again at Old Trafford.
The importance of this match cannot be understated: if England could not afford to lose at Edgbaston, this is a game that neither side can offer to the other: a win for Australia and a draw in the fourth Test will suffice.
But a second win in a row for England - something they have not achieved against Australia for 20 years - and the psychological damage may be severe; Manchester may just be where the series is decided.
Both sides have concerns about the structure of their starting XI, England pondering the form and possible fitness of Matthew Hoggard and Australia awaiting news on the recovery of Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath, both of whom were tested in the nets yesterday.
Of the two, Lee is the most likely to play after spending two nights in Birmingham Hospital receiving high doses of antibiotics intravenously to counter a knee infected through an old graze. After being pronounced fit yesterday afternoon it would be a surprise if he suffered an adverse reaction today.
Perhaps the presence of McGrath should be regarded more as an attempt to set the "Pigeon" (McGrath's nickname) among the cats, than a genuine attempt to get him fit.
However, the rapid recovery of Steve Waugh on the last tour, not to mention that of Warne from a shoulder dislocation last time England were in Australia, is evidence of what can be done.
McGrath has made excellent progress given that it is only a week since he turned his right ankle so severely that his continuing participation in the tour looked in doubt.
His bowling, not surprisingly, was barely above warm-up pace in the net session, and his participation today will surely not be risked given there is a week's break before the fourth Test and Lee's recent incapacity.
This left the Australian selectors to decide on whether to retain both Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz alongside Lee, or to bring in Shaun Tait, who has been billed as something approaching Australia's answer to Devon Malcolm.
For England there were just two points to ponder: the royal blue strip of Kevin Pietersen's new hairdo and Hoggard's not so productive season. At Edgbaston Hoggard was generally unable to control what swing he managed, particularly to the left-handers he bowls the new ball to; it left Michael Vaughan compelled to under-use him.
Against that, he did play in a winning team and took two vital wickets, albeit on each occasion with his loosener. But there is obviously a knee-niggle (he had it strapped in practice) and the surface promises to offer pace and, significantly, good bounce, the sort of thing that would suit the 6ft 7ins of Chris Tremlett.
To ask a debutant pace-bowler to play in such a match, unless forced to do so by injury, may be considered daunting, but England do daunting quite well now.
There are a couple of sideshows here. Warne has travelled many roads since he took the wicket of Ravi Shastri to get off the mark in Tests, and now stands on 599. He has not failed to get two innings of a Test without a wicket since the first week of the millennium, and will probably become the first to top 600, sometime today or tomorrow; he reckons it will be Pietersen, who will no doubt have other ideas.
Meanwhile, Adam Gilchrist requires three victims to become only the fourth wicketkeeper after Ian Healy, Rod Marsh and Mark Boucher to achieve 300 dismissals, and as many runs to pass the 4540 scored by Alec Stewart as a wicketkeeper. He will then become the most prolific wicketkeeper-batsman in history.
