ENGLAND'S players might have this summer's Ashes series on their minds but, after they produced another devastating display at Riverside yesterday, it is Bangladesh's hopes of respectability that have gone up in smoke.

The tourists were skittled for just 104 - four less than they managed during the first innings of their calamitous first Test defeat at Lord's - as England's four-pronged pace attack continued to ease through the gears ahead of the more rigorous examinations that lie in wait.

The home side then piled on the agony with the bat, finishing on 269-3 at the close, a lead of some 165 runs. With Marcus Trescothick having plundered another century to add to the 194 he scored at Lord's and Ian Bell ready to resume on an unbeaten 57, England should be ready to declare well before the final session of today's play.

That will ensure another comprehensive victory but, while Durham officials might claim otherwise, the second Test match to be held in the North-East has always been about what comes next, rather than what is happening in the middle.

From the host county's point of view, yesterday's capacity crowd proved the pulling power of the international game and strengthened their claims for higher-profile opposition in the future.

And, from an England perspective, a second successive thrashing of Bangladesh will foster even greater confidence and cohesion ahead of five eagerly-awaited Ashes Tests that offer the opportunity of a first series win over Australia for almost 20 years.

Yesterday's mismatch added even more fuel to the argument over Bangladesh's senior status but, while the tourists proved woefully inadequate for the second game in a row, England can justifiably argue that they can only beat what is put in front of them.

They will undoubtedly do that - weather-permitting, things could even come to an end before the close of play today - and it has been refreshing to see a side previously criticised for possessing a soft underbelly display a ruthlessly mean streak.

No one was meaner than Steve Harmison yesterday and, after promising to "wipe the floor" with the Bangladeshi batsmen on the eve of the Test, the Durham paceman duly proved as good as his word.

His fifth five-wicket Test haul was undoubtedly his most enjoyable, coming as it did in front of his family and friends, and, in tandem with Yorkshire's Matthew Hoggard, the Ashington Express wasted no time in ripping through a shell-shocked top order.

Hoggard has spent the last week bowling with his eyes closed in an attempt to eradicate the spate of no balls that plagued him during the first Test at Lord's. After the carnage that ensued during Bangladesh's first innings yesterday, it is tempting to conclude that the tourists' batsmen must have followed his lead at the crease.

Displaying a discipline that was lacking during the early stages of last week's annihilation, England's seam attack took less than 40 overs to dismiss their hapless opponents.

Harmison was the catalyst for the collapse, claiming two victims in his first four overs before returning after lunch to take three of the final five wickets to fall.

The 26-year-old clearly relishes representing his country in front of his home crowd and, after taking six Zimbabwean wickets during Riverside's only previous Test match, he followed up with figures of 5-38 after two spells of sustained success.

Opener Nafis Iqbal was his first victim, edging an attempted drive to Andrew Strauss at third slip after Harmison had shattered his nerves by ripping three deliveries past the outside edge in the space of one menacing over.

Bangladesh skipper Habibul Bashar quickly followed suit, getting nowhere near an outstanding inswinging yorker that allied devastating pace to deadly precision.

By lunch, the tourists' fate was sealed as three more quick wickets left them precariously placed at 66-5.

Mohammad Ashraful became Geraint Jones' 50th Test victim when he edged behind off Simon Jones, while Hoggard claimed his 150th Test wicket when the previously impressive Javed Omar feathered a catch to the wicketkeeper down the leg side.

In between times, Graham Thorpe celebrated his centennial Test appearance by snaffling a tentative prod from Rajin Saleh at short leg.

As if that were not comprehensive enough, Harmison and Hoggard both returned after the lunch break to wreak more havoc on a Riverside wicket shorn of the grass that might have made it an even more menacing prospect.

Aftab Ahmed edged Harmison to Jones in the second over of the afternoon session, before Hoggard claimed two wickets in the space of three balls as Gareth Batty took an outstanding one-handed catch to dismiss Mohammad Rafique and Tapash Baishya was beaten by some sideways movement.

Harmison was not to be outdone though and, bowling to a field that included four slips and two gullies, the hometown hero wrapped up the innings in style.

Mashrafe Mortaza failed to move his feet as he offered Jones another routine catch behind the stumps, before Khaled Mashud fell to an identical fate that left the wicketkeeper celebrating his sixth dismissal of the day.

England's reply started slowly, and Bangladesh were even able to celebrate an unexpected success when the scratchy Strauss was trapped on the crease to an inswinger from Mortaza.

But that setback merely served to spur Trescothick and Michael Vaughan into action as, for the second Friday in a row, the inadequacies of the tourists' attack were exposed in a brutally efficient fashion.

With Trescothick punishing anything remotely short or misdirected, and the skipper looking to get onto the front foot at every opportunity, the pair put on a quick-fire 87 in the space of just 75 balls.

That was good enough to take England into the lead but just as the hosts eased past Bangladesh's total, Vaughan momentarily lost his composure and edged Mortaza into the gloves of Mashud.

Trescothick continued to take advantage of the gifts on offer though, becoming the first player to make a Test century at Riverside when he creamed spinner Rafique to the boundary with a flashing square cut that epitomised the aggression of his innings as a whole.

The only thing his hundred lacked was a six, and he duly added that shortly after when he hoisted Rafique into the Don Robson Pavilion.

The tourists had left a huge gap at mid on to tempt him but, sizeable as it was, it was nothing compared to the vast chasm that separates these two sides.

He eventually fell on 151 two overs before the close, hoisting Ahmed to Ashraful at long on, having helped to add 223 runs in a whirlwind final session.