ENGLAND take to the Oval this afternoon for their second one-day international against New Zealand with a hard act to follow.

It is difficult to imagine how a side that bombed so badly at the World Cup in March could be transformed into record-breakers just a few months later.

Who would have thought England had it in them to score more than 400 runs then close out their biggest ever victory, in terms of runs, against a side that blasted their way into the World Cup final.

Okay, the Kiwi attack was missing the retired Daniel Vettori and Tim Southee, who was rested, but it is still hard to explain how a side that had made international cricket look so difficult can suddenly make it so seem so easy.

What is clear is that the margins between success and failure in professional sport are slight.

Eoin Morgan’s side, led by coach Peter Moores, looked in desperate need of a major overhaul as they spluttered to embarrassing failure against Bangladesh – their fourth defeat in six games as they dropped out of the World Cup at the group stages.

The inquest was painful for everyone concerned at the ECB, with the Kevin Pietersen sideshow overshadowing a great deal of soul-searching in the corridors of power at Lord’s.

Moores was the biggest casualty. The former Lancashire head coach was brushed aside to be replaced by director of cricket Andrew Strauss.

Below Strauss, former Sri Lanka coach Paul Farbrace has been placed at the helm in the short-term while England await the arrival of Trevor Bayliss, who is set to take charge before this summer’s Ashes series.

He has been charged with dragging the Three Lions one-day side into the 21st Century, but it seems the major surgery everyone assumed was required is not necessary after all.

Things had looked so bad there was even a temptation to ask troublemaker Pietersen to come to the rescue.

Yet, apparently, we already had a team of world beaters at our disposal, someone just had to let them go out and play.

Jos Buttler and Joe Root made the headlines with blistering centuries, ably supported by half-centuries from captain Morgan and Adil Rashid.

Steven Finn and Rashid then weighed in with four wickets apiece to wrap up the New Zealand innings for 198 inside 32 overs.

The England side included six players who were not picked for the World Cup and, by all accounts, there was a real freshness to their approach.

Dramatic u-turns in sport are not uncommon, of course.

The England football team endured a rollercoaster ride through major tournaments in the 1980s and 90s.

Bobby Robson’s side were knocked out of Euro 88 at the group stages, only to make it to the World Cup semi-finals two years later. Graham Taylor then led them to dismal failure for four years before Terry Venables picked up the pieces at Euro 96.

The three managers were picking from a similar pool of talent, but with remarkably different results.

Whatever the short-term impact, a fresh pair of eyes and an intake of enthusiastic new recruits will only get you so far.

The ECB clear-out has effectively released a pressure valve – you could feel the collective sigh of relief at Edgbaston.

Bayliss and Farbrace must now build on that feelgood factor to create a platform for longer-lasting success.

Views from the sports desk...

ROBERT KELLY: IT is interesting how the Scottish FA are exploring the idea of summer football.

A similar project has been piloted locally in the Bolton, Bury and District Football League for the past couple of weeks at various sites across the town.

More than 190 teams have participated in the initiative and officials are looking to run a similar event next season.

Obviously, there are concerns for knock-on effects in other summer sports, such as cricket, but surely the different sports can come together to reduce any fixture and training problems.

DAVID PYE: I HONESTLY think West Ham are living in a dream world.

Getting rid of Big Sam may have been the bosses bowing to the demand of the fans but was it really justified after the ex-Wanderers boss took them back to the top-flight and kept theme there year after year?

I suppose it was never going to sit well with supporters who believe their club is the ‘academy of football’.

But then for the owners to throw names like Ancelotti, Klopp and Benitez into their manager search was ridiculous.

If they really were serious contenders would the club have settled for Slaven Bilic? For his sake, I hope he fares better than Allardyce or they may go for Mourinho!

NEIL BONNAR: ONE of my pet hates is sportsmen, especially footballers, being called 'the new so and so'.

It happens all the time when some youngster with potential and a slight likeness in looks or style to a great player is called the new him.

I fell into the trap myself this week when I tweeted if Paul Pogba is the new Yaya Toure I'm the new William Shakespeare.

A couple of days later I read that Spurs were interested in signing someone from a French club dubbed 'the new Thierry Henry'.

So far I think we're up to the 54th 'new George Best' when there's no such thing. Everyone is the first and only himself.

If ever there was a form of lazy hype this is it.