England display their predatory streak

Traditionally, it is England who tend to be on the receiving end of days such as this, usually on a biennial basis against Australia. But today it was New Zealand who did not know what hit them. As the Kiwi sick-list grew with every passing hour, England put the boot in to such devastating effect that they are now a couple of early breakthroughs away from stealing a quite remarkable victory. Their red-letter days are in danger of becoming passé.

With half-an-hour remaining of an elongated fourth day, the noisy hordes in the Western Stand had already received royal entertainment through the batting exploits of Geraint Jones and Andrew Flintoff. But what followed defied even their insatiable appetites. In the glorious evening light, Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison pummelled the New Zealand batsmen into submission, aided by a cut-throat field that included five slips and a gully, and a fly slip for good measure. In the Caribbean, Michael Vaughan had been deploying such positions for fun - but it now becomes clear his intentions were deadly serious all along. Has there ever been a more predatory England team?

From start to finish, it was a performance of pace and intensity that the Australians themselves could not have bettered, and it induced a very English meltdown in the New Zealand ranks. Vaughan's inventiveness was in stark contrast to Stephen Fleming's bereft performance. Glowering from behind his shades, Fleming was so defensive in his field-placings that Jones and Flintoff were not once threatened by the presence of a short leg on a two-paced track. In fact, they were not threatened at all, as they counter-attacked with the sort of gusto that only Adam Gilchrist can summon on a regular basis.

Fleming entered this series being hailed as the most tactically astute captain in the world, but there was more flight than fight in his approach today. In mitigation, he had problems aplenty just keeping 11 men on the field. With Michael Papps (broken knuckle) joining Craig McMillan (broken finger) on the casualty list, and Jacob Oram unable to bowl because of a side strain, Daniel Vettori's hamstring injury was just about the last straw. As Mark Richardson summed up afterwards: "We're pretty p***ed off."

But even with a full quota of bowlers to choose from, New Zealand would have struggled to stay in touch with Jones and Flintoff. At the crease, they are like imp and ogre, but New Zealand soon discovered there was nothing mythical about their batting prowess. As Flintoff weighed in with his meaty front-foot thumps, Jones used his diminutive stature (and the Kiwis' muddled lines of attack) to rock back and cut the wide balls with devastating assurance. As double acts go, it is more of a double whammy, and for the opposition, it was all the more so coming from that gut-pummelling position of five down. In terms of morale, New Zealand were on the canvas by the time Round Three began.

Few players in the world can outscore Flintoff when he's in one of his moods, but Jones did just that, en route to becoming only the tenth England wicketkeeper to score a Test century. He celebrated with a gleeful leap, a kiss of his badge and a glance to the heavens, and little wonder. In three matches, his lowest completed innings has been 38, and his place in the side is assured for as long as he wants it.

As Jones later admitted, the confidence gained through such an innings had a knock-on effect on his wicketkeeping as well, and he followed up with two catches - one especially classy - as England ran riot amid the lengthening shadows. As for Flintoff, for the second time in three home internationals, he had missed out on a richly-deserved hundred, but by the time he came on to bowl, he had put all that to one side, and has Fleming's scalp to prove it.

These are exciting times for English cricket. On today's evidence, it is hard to see how New Zealand will be able to halt the bandwagon tomorrow.

Andrew Miller is assistant editor of Wisden Cricinfo.