Why England's controlled aggression in the field suggests they are a side on the up

There is more to this controlled aggression than belting the ball out of Trent Bridge. On a fibre-testing first day of the third Test, England’s bowling and fielding also increased in sharpness.

A New Zealand total of 225 for five might not look much to tweet or Tik-Tok about but considering the flatness of this pitch, and an attack lacking Ben Stokes, it was a sterling effort by England to contain New Zealand to the old-fashioned rate of 2.5 an over. A word from Stokes, or a T-shape gesture, and England would have dismissed Daryl Mitchell too.

England had a bustle and purpose in the field which all teams without a crackerjack bowler need but seldom display. Their intensity increased all round; each player added an inch if not a cubit to his stature, as they will have to do by next summer’s Ashes. They are not talking the talk; they are doing and improving instead.

Wicketkeepers set the tone, which Ben Foakes did in the first over when diving beyond the call of duty down the leg side. Foakes is back to where he was before the West Indies tour: almost perfect, the best there is, except when it came to advising Stokes not to review the LBW appeal by Matthew Potts when Mitchell had scored only eight.

Jonny Bairstow seems now to have accepted that Foakes deserves to be England’s Test keeper and found his second niche at last as a specialist No 5. Treading on air after his innings of a lifetime at Trent Bridge, Bairstow buzzed around the field more than he ever has since being deprived of the gloves. A senior player content with his role - not a man aggrieved, which Bairstow had a right to feel he was, because Jos Buttler never proved himself superior, whichever kind of gloves he wore.

Joe Root and Zak Crawley normally polish