Cork celebrates after hitting the winning runs

So why don't we remember Stewart's runs as we do, say, Dominic Cork's 33 not out in the second innings of the Lord's Test against the West Indies?

One-day bash

The answer is that while each and every one of Cork's runs was cheered by an enthralled crowd as England inched their way to a series-levelling victory, Stewart's 97 was just another one-day bash made in just another one-day international.

In 124 years there have been 1,538 Test matches; by contrast, since the captains of England and Australia hastily agreed to stage a one-day game on the fifth day of a rain-ruined Test in Melbourne in January 1971, there have now been 1,694 one-day internationals.

The obvious conclusion is that, World Cups apart, one-day internationals do not matter a jot.

Who could forget the two World Cup clashes between Australia and South Africa in the last World Cup, or the trail blazed by Sri Lanka through the 1996 tournament - Sanath Jayasuriya's runs in the group stage, and Aravinda de Silva's century in the final?

Australia win a thrilling World Cup semi final

But outside World Cups, team performances are hardly ever remembered, and individual performances even less so.

The value of runs scored and wickets taken, at a premium in Test matches, plummets in one-day internationals where there is an excuse for failure.

So what are England and Sri Lanka up to then, playing this series of three one-day internationals?

First victims

In a sense both teams are on a hiding to nothing, being asked to follow such an exhilarating Test series, indeed such an exhilarating fortnight of Test cricket around the world.

Surely all they can hope to achieve is confidence in their personnel and tactics ahead of the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.

But such an argument misses the point of one-day cricket.

International cricket would have all but died without the one-day game, and the first victims would have been the countries of the sub-continent where, until recently, only a smattering of spectators could be drawn to watch Test cricket.

Sri Lanka's batsmen entertained in 1996

But where one-day internationals are concerned, Pakistan and India in particular have had no trouble filling their concrete cauldrons to capacity.

There is money aplenty in the one-day game and, for such numbers to prefer it to Test cricket - at least in a spectating capacity - there is instant entertainment of the sort that is ideally suited to the modern, fast-moving pace of life.

And there is more.

One-day cricket is the perfect vehicle for cricket to be taken to new venues.

A Test match could not possibly have been staged at the newest addition to the family of international grounds, in Dambulla, for fears about the wicket. But all were willing to risk a one-day bash.

So what if one of the five Test grounds in Colombo would have produced more runs and a tighter finish.

The efforts of those responsible for the ground in Dambulla, from architects to the many hundreds of labourers who planted the grass on hands and knees, have been handsomely rewarded.

Pakistan attract large crowds

That an international match of any description was played where only months ago there was nothing but lake and forest is truly exceptional.

Consider also the decision to incorporate a triangular one-day tournament into the English summer.

Not only is there more cricket for people to watch and more coins in the ECB coffers, but there is now also scope to take one-day internationals away from the six Test grounds.

Spreading the game

Last year international cricket was played in Bristol, Canterbury and Chester-le-Street, and this summer Cardiff replaces Canterbury.

In the last World Cup, all 18 county headquarters saw international cricket, as did the grounds in Amstelveen in Amsterdam, Castle Avenue in Dublin, and Raeburn Palace in Edinburgh.

The Bangabandu stadium in Dhaka, where Pakistan once played Test cricket in the days of East and West Pakistan, was introduced to modern cricket watchers during the Mini World Cup.

Who will remember Muralitharan's wickets in Dambulla

And international cricket has for some time now been played in Sharjah and Toronto. There were even plans to stage a tournament in Disney World, Florida, until the idea was scrapped.

There is a place, therefore, for the one-day game outside World Cups. If they are to be judged in their proper context, however, the result should be an aside to the context. Entertainment comes first, long-term planning comes next.

And please, please let the sort of three-match series that England are involved in at the moment come before not after the corresponding Test series.

It was like being served tomato soup after the cigars and port.