Andy Caddick, who picked up 5 for 69 in the first innings against Canterbury, is revelling in his role as England's strike bowler, but said that his fellow bowlers would be feeling the pressure. In England's two first-class games so far, Caddick has taken 12 for 154, while the combined efforts of the rest add up to 6 for 289 - half as many wickets, twice as many runs.

"There's an onus on everyone," he said, "and I just like to have the responsibility of being the leader. The weight comes on my shoulders, but there's a lot more weight on the other guys who need to perform. Everyone out there is trying hard, and I'm sure they want to take the wickets as much as I do.

"Most of the other guys have had a hard one-day series, and it's difficult to come from the one-day game into Test cricket - it's a different game. They're just settling in. Hopefully in the second innings they'll come through."

As at Queenstown, Caddick was pleased with his rhythm. "It's coming on all right," he said. "The rhythm always gets better for me. I tended to hit my rhythm a little bit earlier than I did the other day. I wanted to make sure that today when I ran in I got straight in and gave a couple of bouncers to get me going."

But despite the green tinge on the wicket, Caddick said conditions were far from ideal. "The wind was very blustery - it was difficult for the players to get into a rhythm. It's in your face all the time, or up your backside. So it was difficult getting into the wicket. But all the guys worked hard."

Caddick felt that the return of Nasser Hussain, who sat out the game against Otago so he could spend some time with his family, upped the intensity levels in the field. "There's a better atmosphere here with Nas - it's one of those things. I've supported Nas over the past two and half years, I think he's a very good captain, and I like performing for him."

Then, just to make sure that the stand-in captain at Queenstown, Marcus Trescothick, didn't take that the wrong way: "That's something that hopefully will happen if Marcus takes the reins." For the moment, England need Hussain to be at his authoritative best. Otherwise it's hard to see them bowling out New Zealand twice.

Lawrence Booth is assistant editor of Wisden.com.

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