England's white ball team won another match and started another tournament in great style, but for the first time since Eoin Morgan stepped down, this felt like a new era.
There has been a lot of talk from Jos Buttler and others about wanting to start something new and drawing a line under the successful team of the past, but until something changes on the field those words can feel a little hollow.
But thanks to Sam Curran and Ben Stokes, this actually did feel different. It is one thing to call it a new era because there is a new captain and a new coach, but if the same players are being relied on to do the same things then what is the difference?
Against Afghanistan things did change. Stokes opened the bowling with success in a role he has only just started while Curran collected five wickets in a T20 innings, the first England player to do so.
Neither man was involved in the T20 World Cup last year so at a stroke their presence has shifted the narrative, but it is the quality of Curran's contribution that has made the real difference. It has continued a terrific run of form for the all rounder who has had a remarkable return to cricket since recovering from a stress fracture of the back.
Players always hope to return better from a serious injury, but there is a risk that they may not, and a once promising career could slip away. Nothing could be further from the truth for Curran who has appeared to return in such rude health that he may soon become a must pick across every format.
Of course one performance against Afghanistan isn't enough to make outrageous claims, but it was another example of just how effective he can be when the stakes and the pressures are high. It was his first World Cup match and he delivered for his team, and looked entirely at ease doing so.
The game seems to come so easily to him, he genuinely has a brilliant cricket brain, because cricket is what he knows to his very core. He is not phased by the situation, by the opposition and everything he does on the field comes with a smile.
He is the most modern of modern cricketers, bred in the county game, but moulded and finessed by the IPL and the international arena. No job is too tricky, and no opponent too tough. He is already eyeing up a miserable night for the Aussies on Friday which shows he has a handle on his history too.
Some might call Curran a luxury player, unsure of whether he is quite good enough with either skill to get into a team. Actually he is essential.
