This is what it should have been like back in July...

...when we won the Olympic bid. We should have had a rosey glow for days on end. The joy of seeing the victory scenes replayed endlessly on tv. The reams of press coverage. The sheer unadulterated feelgood factor.

Well back in July 4 guys with bombs put a stop to that, but only temporarily. The win for the England cricket team in the Ashes is perhaps all the more sweet as the series was born in the immediate aftermath of the terror attacks. Where was the fear on Tuesday as hundreds of thousands of people crammed the streets of London and Trafalgar Square to cheer their Cricketing heroes? Let's also not forget that the England women's team won back the Ashes after a gap of over 40 years.

So even on this grey, rainy miserable day - there is still a lingering afterglow of Summer in the feelgood factor created by a bunch of guys who slapped leather with willow.