Flintoff was particularly strong on the off-side

This is precisely the type of innings he has always threatened to play but, after a winter in which his batting form has dipped to alarming proportions, even he must have been wondering if he would ever be able to produce anything like it.

To put his partnership of 281 with Thorpe into perspective, you have to consider the rate at which they scored - five and a half runs per over.

In 81 overs, England added 405 runs, including 59 fours and seven sixes, which would have been going some even in the closing stages of a one-day international.

Lack of options

It is important to note that New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming had nowhere to turn once it was announced that Chris Cairns could not bowl through a knee injury.

This left him with two raw seam bowlers, one of them - Ian Butler - playing in only his sixth first class match, and Daniel Vettori, the spinner, at his disposal.

Frankly, he was always going to be up against it if a partnership developed.

That is the only shred of sympathy one can offer New Zealand, however, because they have blown any number of chances in this match.

Thorpe reaches 200

Nasser Hussain was dropped on 52 in the first innings and went on to score 106 but, even more crucially, Thorpe gave a straightforward chance to second slip off only the second ball he faced and Astle grassed it.

Poor old Chris Drum, the bowler, held his head in his hands and eventually crawled off the park with 2 for 130 from 32 overs.

Had that chance been taken, the game might have been very different because when Mark Ramprakash was dismissed shortly afterwards, England were 106 for 5, and New Zealand had a glimmer of hope.

All they can hope for now is that the pitch continues to flatten out and that, somehow, they can manage to cling on for two days in order to survive.

The openers, Richardson and Horne, negotiated their way through 10 overs before the close but their mission, surely, is absolutely impossible,

Test Match Special has live coverage of the first Test between New Zealand and England from 21.30 GMT Tuesday on Radio 4, 198 LW. �