By Jonathan Agnew BBC cricket correspondent at Edgbaston

Flintoff's captaincy was supposed to be for the short term only

Even though England's deserved six-wicket margin of victory looks emphatic, they are still a long way from coming close to the ruthless, disciplined team that won the Ashes last summer.

For that matter, they are a long way from looking capable of defending the Ashes in Australia this winter.

Key personnel are still sidelined through injury, and the absence of Michael Vaughan, in particular, gives this team something of a temporary feel to it.

Until Vaughan returns - or is definitely ruled out - Andrew Flintoff's position as captain will continue to be debated, which in itself is unsettling.

England desperately want Vaughan to return as his leadership was a critical factor in the success against Australia.

And there is now a growing concern that Flintoff's appointment as captain - which was intended to be merely a short-term measure - is beginning to look open-ended.

Muttiah Muralitharan's battle with Kevin Pietersen - and Pietersen's domination of him in the first innings - remains the abiding memory of this match

Vaughan's inclusion in Yorkshire's squad for their C&G match against Scotland is an important development.

This is a crucial step after he made it clear following his early return from India that he would not return until he was absolutely sure that his knee would not fail him again.

Having been patient up to now, there is no way he will rush back to the England team.

And now he is considered to be fit to play first-class cricket, we can be pretty sure that Vaughan will have earmarked the start of the Test series against Pakistan in July as a realistic target.

That would suit England because that is when the issue of the captaincy will have to be resolved.

Plunkett has done enough to stay when Harmison returns

If the feeling is that Flintoff would be better off as the deputy, rather than the leader, and Vaughan suffers a setback in the meantime, Andrew Strauss would need to be promoted.

Meanwhile, fast bowler Liam Plunkett looks increasingly confident at this level.

We still have seen no evidence of what we are told is genuine potential as a lower order batsman.

He will still be kicking himself for the manner in which he threw his wicket away here.

But if Steve Harmison plays at Trent Bridge - which looks increasingly unlikely - Plunkett would be preferred to Sajid Mahmood, who has yet to convince me entirely.

Muttiah Muralitharan's battle with Kevin Pietersen - and Pietersen's domination of him in the first innings - remains the abiding memory of this match.

And that will be the major attraction for the Trent Bridge crowd when the series continues on Friday.