As Lawrence Booth prepares to return home, he looks back at the highs and lows of England's tour of New Zealand Innings of the series
Nathan Astle's 222 took the breath away and so did Andrew Flintoff's 44-ball 75 at Wellington, but Nasser Hussain's century on the first day at Christchurch was a masterpiece of bad-wicket grafting. He began his innings at 0 for 2 on a pinball-machine of a pitch and was last man out for 106 more than 80 overs later. It was the sort of classically gritty Test innings that only Chris Harris at Auckland came close to matching.

Bowling performance of the series
Caddick's six wickets in the second innings at Christchurch before Astle clubbed him for 38 in seven balls. An increasingly flat wicket had defeated every other bowler in the third and fourth innings, but Caddick used his height to extract what little bounce there was and run through the top order. The hecklers who had given him a hard time about his heritage weren't so voluble after that.

Shot of the series
For a beguiling mixture of power and grace, take your pick from any of Astle's 11 sixes during the Christchurch blitz, although the rocket-launcher off Caddick over the stand at extra cover took some beating. For pocket-sized poetry, try James Foster's straight-drive for four in the same game.

Ball of the series
Matthew Hoggard to Lou Vincent during his king-of-the-swingers spell at Christchurch. Hoggard had already had Vincent dropped twice in the slips and should have had him lbw, but he kept his cool and produced an absolute pearler that swung into Vincent's pads then cut back past his outside edge to hit middle and off. An expert working-over from a man in only his sixth Test.

Catch of the series
Graham Thorpe's stunning one-handed dive at third slip on the first morning at Auckland to get rid of Astle and reduce the Kiwis to 19 for 4. Astle edged Caddick low to Thorpe's left, but he hyperextended an arm as if being stretched on the rack and clung on inches above the ground in front of second slip. It was the sort of chance England rarely hold onto.

Drop of the series
The same two men, but in reverse. England were in trouble in their second innings at Christchurch when Thorpe edged Chris Drum at waist-height to second slip, only for Astle to make a hash of things. Thorpe had 4 at the time and went on to make a matchwinning unbeaten 200, which made the drop one of the most costly in Test history.

Revelation of the series
Three New Zealanders, all of them brought in for the final Test. Chris Harris laughed in the face of a Test average of 19 to play matchwinning innings of 71 and 43, even if it was with a little help from the umpires. Andre Adams breezed in like a breath of fresh air, bowled with fire to take six wickets and fielded like a little whirlwind. And Daryl Tuffey was high-class, landing the ball metronomically on the seam and letting the pitch do the rest.

Letdown of the series
Two batsmen, who less than a year ago were team-mates at Middlesex, but now found themselves struggling on different sides. Stephen Fleming scratched his way to 76 runs in six innings, while Ramprakash managed 77 in five, and tried too hard to reinvent himself as an aggressive No. 6.

Best moment of the series
Both to do with the crowd. When Astle reached 200, the huge cheer reminded you that the Tests weren't just being watched by the Barmy Army. And when Stephen Fleming caught Hussain at Auckland, his first gesture was to turn to the Army behind him and raise two clenched fists. They had just been taunting him with cries of "You've got the worst catchers in the world" - and shut up immediately.

Worst moment
When news came through on the Saturday morning at Wellington that Ben Hollioake had been killed in a car crash in Perth. Dropped catches and poor decisions didn't matter after that.

Worst umpiring decision of the series
Until the fourth day at Auckland there had been several contenders, but Doug Cowie ran away with the prize when he gave Flintoff out caught behind after he had missed the ball by six inches. Andre Adams, the bowler, didn't even appeal. The decision was so duff that Flintoff should have sued for unfair dismissal.

Luckiest player of the series
Thorpe had the largest portion of luck when Astle dropped him, but Vincent had the most helpings. At Christchurch he was dropped on 0 and 2, and should have been given out leg-before when 12 shortly before Hoggard finally bowled him. In the first innings at Wellington he was out at bat-pad on 3, but umpire Steve Dunne didn't spot it, and was then dropped by Foster when he'd made 10. He went on to make 57. In the second, he escaped another bat-pad catch on 4 en route to a match-saving 71. Lady Luck grinned benevolently.

Unluckiest player of the series

A few candidates. Thorpe, because his matchwinning double-century will always be overshadowed by Astle. Tuffey, because he deserved to be picked for the first Test after the way he bowled in the one-day series. Chris Martin, because he didn't deserve to be dropped after the second Test. And Caddick, because he deserved to end up on the winning side.

Find of the series
Flintoff's other half. He had already shown he could bowl, but in the first two Tests he finally showed he could bat a bit too. The 137 at Christchurch was all catharsis and counterattack, and the 75 at Wellington was just plain brutal. It made you wonder what the run-a-ball 29 at Auckland could have become if Cowie hadn't had his shocker.

Phantom of the series
Darren Gough. During England's two first-class warm-up games, Gough's absence hung over the team like the sword of Damocles. But as soon as Hoggard got it to swing in the first Test, it was a case of Darren Who? And by the end of a series in which Hoggard and Caddick had taken 36 wickets between them, even that question had been forgotten.

Best chant of the series
"Are you Harry Potter in disguise?" - the Barmy Army get stuck into Daniel Vettori.

Worst chant of the series
"We're so rich it's unbelievable" - the Barmy Army get stuck up their own behinds.

Lawrence Booth is assistant editor of Wisden.com.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd