England are revelling in the aftermath of a rare one-sided win over Australia and players, pundits and punters are quick to call it a Twenty20 hammering.
It's hard to disagree. The Aussie all-stars all out for 79 and their hosts winning by 100 runs - Ricky Ponting and co are human after all.
The Rose Bowl success completes a clean sweep of England wins over Australia in all three formats of the game after victories on the last occasions the old foes met at one-day and Test level.
But if you think the tide is turning and the win marks a watershed in cricketing contests with the Ashes set to finally come home - think again.
While everyone says it was a wonderful England win after a pulsating performance in the field, they are all unanimous in saying the slap-dash slogfest in Southampton has no bearing on what is to come over the ensuing three months.
"I don't think the result will do them any good and probably won't do us any harm," Baggy Green skipper Ponting said after the rout.
"It's nice to win, nice to beat Australia, but I wouldn't read too much into a Twenty20 victory," his opposite number Michael Vaughan added.
Suddenly the glass is most certainly half full, and it becomes positively drained when you delve into the detail of the scorecard.
Only six of the England team are certain of a starting place in the Test series and many of Monday's heroes will be making way for others as the summer progresses, including highest scorer Paul Collingwood
Jon Lewis and Darren Gough did all the damage with the ball, but like Collingwood, who took two wickets himself, they will be on the sidelines after the one-day series.
So where are the positives from an England perspective?
Alec Stewart highlighted the confidence factor and Marcus Trescothick took delight in the performance, but both added firm notes of caution.
"England will take confidence from the fact they know they can beat Australia in a form of cricket," former skipper Stewart told BBC Radio Five Live.
"But at the same time they know that 50-over cricket, and more importantly the Ashes series, will be completely different to what we saw at the Rose Bowl."
"It will give us an extra edge and it's more the performance than the victory that will give us that bonus," England opener Trescothick told BBC Radio Five Live before reaching for his 'but'.
"I don't think it will have much of a bearing on the Test series, because the two games are so completely different, and it may not have any resemblance on the one-day internationals - we'll have to wait and see."
And we will be awaiting the Australian reaction with interest as well.
Ponting believes the result will make Australia "more determined" when next the teams meet and his vice-captain Adam Gilchrist said it was all about preparing for the bigger games ahead.
"That's certainly not a kop-out - we were comprehensively beaten, there's no doubt about that and it's disappointing to get thumped like that," he said.
"But it's all about trying to feel bat on ball, the bowlers getting the ball through to the wicketkeeper and hopefully we'll be able to take something out of this, even if it's just having 20 overs in the field and running around."
Their "running around" was below the usual high standards and the Australian outfielding looked sloppy compared to England's sprightly success when catches stuck.
The expectation has been ramped up following the win despite the nagging feeling England may have used up a large dose of luck in a match of little significance.
But most pertinently of all, will Australia be caught so cold again?
One man waiting in the wings thinks not.
"England were fantastic and they caught Australia napping," Shane Warne admitted.
"But I'm sure we'll fight back and this is the right wake-up medicine.
"I don't think I have ever been associated with a series where there is so much hype. It's fantastic and England will now be hyping themselves up so much - the only way is down!"
It is likely the teams will meet in seven one-day matches as well as the five Tests - a potential 32 days of cricket.
The Rose Bowl crowd's taunting chant of 'Can we play you every day?' could yet come back to haunt them.
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There is no down side to the result, we quite simply gave them a lesson in cricket
Parade in pictures
England heroes celebrate
Cricket interviews