Massed ranks of horses are not a prerequisite to raise the hairs on the back of the neck; all it takes is three top-class ones, enough sub-plots to keep Shakespeare himself busy and a denouement that unfolded like high-speed chess. The winner of the £425,850 prize, by half a length, was the French-trained 5-6 favourite Hurricane Run, with Electrocutionist, for Godolphin, second and Japanese raider Heart's Cry another half-length third. But the bare result cannot do any justice to the underlying drama in this crucible theatre. In Hurricane Run's saddle was Christophe Soumillon, replacing the beleaguered Kieren Fallon for the Andr?abre-trained colt's owners, the Coolmore axis. Soumillon, the brilliant, confident young Belgian was not only following a hard act but had his own monkey to deal with, having infamously failed to shine on board Ouija Board in the Eclipse Stakes on his last venture onto the Group One stage in this country.Electrocutionist pulled out stiff yesterday morning in Newmarket after being cast in his box overnight and his participation was confirmed barely an hour before the off, with the caveat that he would be pulled out at the start should Frankie Dettori felt anything amiss. The terrible fate of Horatio Nelson in the Derby was still fresh in the memory but, as it was, the five-year-old's action to post was a fluid joy to watch.The Godolphin pacemaker Cherry Mix still held the call on the final turn to the short run for home, but behind him the plot was thickening and a collective gasp of consternation arose from the audience, for the first of the five pursuers in trouble was, apparently, Hurricane Run.Last year's Arc winner, closer to the pace than usual early on, started to drop back with Soumillon at work and with nowhere to go as first Dettori and then Christophe Lemaire on Heart's Cry legitimately held him in place on the rail.Dettori caught his hare inside the two furlong-marker, but no sooner did Electrocutionist's white face show in front than Heart's Cry went past.

For England, this was close to a perfect game. To win by an innings and 120 runs is an excellent performance; to accomplish it in less than three days is a remarkable display against Pakistan, the team who rank second in the world. It's going to be a good series."His 344 was only one run short of the highest score by an Australian in England (Charlie Macartney got 345.) "Nice, isn't it," says Langer. "It was an easy pitch, but Surrey's is probably the best bowling attack in the country." Mostly, he played Twenty20 cricket He arrived a sceptic and left a convert "I really enjoyed it," he says.Stephen Fay. Langer is happy with the idea that Andrew Flintoff should play club games in Australia in November to assist his own recovery "Any game of cricket does you good," he says. Although Langer doubts whether Flintoff would get enough games to make the trip worthwhile, Western Suburbs in Sydney have already offered him a berth.Of all England's injuries, Langer identifies Flintoff's as the most crucial: "He was the catalyst of England's Ashes victory." No black propaganda from Langer here: "England have got a very good side No doubt about it.

By scoring 344 against Surrey, the Aussie opener proved the completeness of his recovery from a brutal blow to the head in the Johannesburg Test in the spring. "Kumar and I are very good friends on and off the field, and I am privileged to be involved in this partnership with him."The smash hits: Highest individual test scoresB C Lara 400no West Indies v England, Antigua 2004M L Hayden 380 Australia v Zimbabwe, Perth 2003B C Lara 375 West Indies v England, Antigua 1994D P M D Jayawardene 374 Sri Lanka v South Africa, Colombo 2006Best test standsK C Sangakkara & Jayawardene 624 Sri Lanka v South Africa 2006S T Jayasuriya & R S Mahanama 576 Sri Lanka v India, Colombo 1997A H Jones & M D Crowe 467 New Zealand v Sri Lanka, Wellington 1990W H Ponsford & D G Bradman 451 England v Australia, The Oval 1934Message from Oz: You're welcome down here, FredJustin Langer flew back to Australia last week in fine fettle after spending some quality time with Somerset. But the carnival atmosphere was punctured when his off-stump was knocked back shortly after South Africa took the second new ball.The previous highest score by a Sri Lankan was the 340 scored by Jayasuriya against India at Colombo in 1997. Jayawardene and Sangakkara also became only the second pair in Test history to score 250s in the same innings, after Sir Garfield Sobers and Conrad Hunte for West Indies against Pakistan in 1957-58.Sangakkara's 287, also a personal best after his 270 against Zimbabwe in 2004, spanned 457 deliveries and included 35 fours.After Sangakkara's dismissal, Tillakaratne Dilshan, who had to wait for more than 11 hours to come in, hit 45 to add another 100 with his captain, who declared after his innings ended."It was a fantastic feeling when we got there," Jayawardene said about the 624-run partnership record. His elegant innings was all the more remarkable for the fact that he did not offer South Africa's fielders a single chance and was only rarely beaten.The crowd had swollen throughout the afternoon as spectators sensed an opportunity to watch Jayawardene break Brian Lara's record Test score of 400. The previous 576-run record, set by compatriots Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama against India in 1997, was broken when the South Africa wicketkeeper, Mark Boucher, conceded four byes off the bowling of the left-arm spinner Nicky Boje.Celebrated with firecrackers around the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, the new milestone was reached with Jayawardene on 278 and Sangakkara on 273.