Alastair Cook spoke with a heady mixture of relief and satisfaction after England won the first ODI against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
It was under Cook's stewardship that England lost 5-0 in their last one-day international series, in India in October.
But at the Zayed Stadium, his career-best 137 was the key contribution to a 130-run trouncing of Pakistan to go 1-0 up with three to play.
Cook underpinned England's 260, and then unleashed the pace of Steven Finn - his four for 34 was also his ODI best - to see off Pakistan's first four batsmen.
The outcome was in little doubt thereafter, and England finished the job with 15 overs to spare.
The margin of their success, however, was immaterial; the fact they managed to end a sequence of nine defeats in 10, the last three in Tests here against Pakistan, was the key point.
"It's always good to start off the series well, and to play close to our potential - which I don't think we've done on this tour - is really pleasing," said Cook.
"I thought one to 11 were outstanding on Monday."
He will not be over-reacting, though, to one oasis of success in the desert to date.
"We all know the fickle world of cricket. In the summer when things were going really well, everyone was on your side.
"Then you have a bad tour... but as I've always said, as captain, you're judged by results - and we didn't play very well (in India), and I take responsibility.
"But it was a really good day for the side. We did need the win on tour, and it was great to be able to contribute to it."
Cook compared his innings favourably with the match-winning hand he played at the Rose Bowl last summer.
"I probably batted more fluently in that game, when I got 80 off 60 balls.
"But as a whole innings, in the context of the game, I'm really happy with the way I played."
He also gave due credit to Finn and Ravi Bopara, with whom he added a crucial 131 for the third wicket.
"At 40 for four after 10 overs, it's never over - with Afridi coming in at eight - but that was outstanding bowling," he said of the fast bowler.
"It felt quick out there, and he got some really good players out.
"It shows the strength of our bowlers that he can't get in the Test team - at the moment.
"But if you keep pushing and putting in performances like that and bowl as well as he did there, that's all he can do."
Saeed Ajmal, so effective against England in the Test series, again took five wickets.
Cook said: "They still took seven wickets with spinners, but I was pleased with the way we managed to keep scoring boundaries off them and rotate the strike.
"I thought the way Ravi played, handled the pressure, when we lost those two quick wickets was a real key moment - because if we'd lost another couple of wickets it would have been 'here we go again'.
"The way he stood up, I thought, was fantastic - soaked up the pressure and then accelerated nicely.
"He hadn't played a game since October. You can have as many nets as you want, but there's nothing like the middle. That was a really big knock for Ravi, and I hope he can build on that and play some really important innings for us - because we know how talented he is."
Kevin Pietersen was less impressive as Cook's new partner.
But the captain said: "I thought we got off to a really good start as a partnership.
"Sometimes one person gets off to a bit of a flier, and the other one doesn't.
"There'll be other times when he does and I don't. We put on 50 for the first wicket."
Younus Khan was among Finn's victims.
He said: "It wasn't difficult to chase [260], but the way they bowled the first 10 overs they outclassed us.
"Cook played a wonderful knock and was very positive right from the start.
"Bopara played [well] after a long time, and then Finn bowled very well.
"He was fantastic and looked a much-improved bowler since we last played him. He bowled with aggression and never gave an easy ball."
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