England missed out on a possible day off with some tired bowling at the end, but that's just about all they've done wrong in four days of almost total domination. It's hard to recall a match in recent times in which England have been so relentlessly ascendant. In the pre-Hussain years they won games with spectacular, frenzied one-off performances. But here there has been certainty and conviction right from the off, and even a bit of a swagger. It's been almost Australian. There is one recent precedent for this display. On this ground 14 months ago, Pakistan were pummelled by an innings inside three days. Then, however, Darren Gough and Andy Caddick shared 16 wickets. Here they shared only a sick-bed. Then Graham Thorpe, in the middle of the purplest of patches, top-scored with a thumping 80. Here he has been England's only passenger.

A lot has changed since that match - just ask Ian Ward and Ryan Sidebottom - and though a few months ago, the thought of a mass exodus after this winter's Ashes series and World Cup filled England's fans with dread, now there is the vague possibility of some of their biggest guns not getting to choose their farewell dates. At the moment England are doing just fine without them, and at some point around lunch tomorrow they will have won three Tests in a row in a single home summer for the first time since the heady days of 1981.

Thorpe is clearly rusty, not to mention distracted - his dropped catch, and muted celebration when he finally took one, showed that as much as his two low scores - and John Crawley's performance has put serious pressure on him. The middle order will not be big enough for both of them once Marcus Trescothick is fit. But if England are to compete in this winter's Ashes series, let alone get anywhere near winning it, they will need their most Australian cricketer seizing initiatives in the middle order. Crawley could not have done more here, but talk of dropping Thorpe is surely premature. Mark Butcher will bring sobriety, Nasser Hussain bloody-mindedness, and Crawley a fierce desire to improve a poor record against the Aussies, but only Thorpe will have the conviction to race to 20 at a run a ball and push the field back.

Then there is the case of Gough and Caddick. England's bowling in this match has been largely immaculate, with Simon Jones suggesting that they might just a sixth fast bowler of genuine Test quality. Only four of the six - seven, if you include Craig White - can play in Australia, though, and a fair old scrap is on the cards. Flintoff is a shoo-in, even though his averages (20 with the bat, 42 with the ball, 12 catches in 19 Tests) tell nothing of his all-action importance to the side, while Hoggard is getting that way after racing to 50 wickets in only 12 Tests. With Jones offering the pure gold of raw pace, and Tudor looking the part every time he plays, Caddick and Gough can no longer take anything for granted.

Gough's box-office nature, knee problems, and weight gain (perceived or otherwise) draw uncomfortable parallels with Paul Gascoigne. It's unlikely at this stage, but cricket could have its equivalent of Gascoigne's sensational omission from the World Cup '98 squad when the Ashes party is announced. You wouldn't have got many people considering that when Pakistan were being thrashed 14 months ago.

Rob Smyth is on the staff of Wisden.com.

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