A LEVEL-HEADED Michael Vaughan last night admitted the real work of the summer was about to begin, after England completed the most routine of series wins over Bangladesh at Riverside.

Fellow Yorkshireman Matthew Hoggard completed the fifth five-wicket haul of his Test career as the home side took just 26 balls to capture the two Bangladeshi wickets needed to secure an innings-and-27-run-win.

The success completes a two-Test whitewash after a similarly emphatic success at Lord's seven days ago and means that Vaughan has become the first player to skipper England to five successive series wins for 34 years.

But, with Australia's players having touched down on English soil yesterday morning, thoughts have already turned to the much tougher tasks that lie ahead.

England will get their first glimpse of the Australians when the two sides play the maiden international Twenty20 match at the Rose Bowl next Monday, before a triangular one-day series with Australia and Bangladesh provides the warm-up for an Ashes series that gets underway at Lord's on July 21.

The last three days have provided a welcome confidence boost and allowed some of England's biggest names to flex their muscles against limited opposition.

But, while two capacity North-Eastern crowds made the most of Test cricket returning to their doorstep, nobody in the England camp is pretending last weekend's victory was a cause for unbridled celebration.

"We did what we expected," said Vaughan, who admitted to harbouring concerns about the lack of another four-day game before the Ashes begin next month. "I think Australia would have expected us to have beaten Bangladesh 2-0 as well, but I think we played some good cricket in the two victories.

"We got quite a lot out of this last game. The top five have had plenty of time in the middle and the bowlers got some miles into their legs.

"We've now had two games of cricket where we have played some good stuff. The opposition hasn't been of that high a standard and we obviously expect the challenges in the summer to be a lot harder. But you've still got to get the job done and I thought we were pretty professional over the two games."

England were certainly professional in the 17 minutes of cricket that took place yesterday, wrapping up victory in the simplest of fashions.

Hoggard, who was named man of the match despite continuing to struggle with a spate of no balls, continued where he had left off on Saturday evening and accounted for both Bangladeshi tail-enders.

Tapash Baishya faced just two balls before nibbling the thinnest of edges to wicketkeeper Geraint Jones, while Mashrafe Mortaza survived an identical number of deliveries before offering a catch to first slip that Marcus Trescothick claimed at the second attempt.

With Steve Harmison also claiming five wickets in the first innings, and both Andrew Flintoff and Simon Jones bowling well in patches, England's four-pronged seam attack is showing signs of finding its form.

"As a group of four quick bowlers, I thought they worked in tandem exceptionally well," said Vaughan. "We're going to need that throughout the summer.

"We were disappointed with the first ten overs at Lord's, but I thought our first-innings bowling here was exceptional."

England's second-innings display was not quite so assured, as Bangladesh's batsmen, who had looked all at sea first time around, threw caution to the wind.

Vaughan's lunch-time declaration on Saturday was a clear statement of intent. But, despite claiming an extra half-hour in pursuit of a two-day win, England's bowlers were forced to reconvene yesterday morning.

Javed Omar, Habibul Bashar and the especially eye-catching Afteb Ahmed all claimed half-centuries as Bangladesh crashed their way past 300 for the first time against England.

The home side's bowling was ragged rather than risible, although Gareth Batty's limited impact has lent even greater weight to this week's medical update on fellow off-spinner Ashley Giles.

"The goal was to win in two days and, when you set yourself goals, you like to achieve them," admitted Vaughan. "We went searching for wickets on Saturday, rather than trying to put a few good overs together and build pressure on them that way.

"I thought we went chasing wickets rather than being more disciplined, but you can allow them a bit of leeway when we're trying to thrash out a result inside two days."

A two-day result was possible thanks to another blistering display of batting from Warwickshire's Ian Bell, who celebrated his maiden century on the way to recording an unbeaten 162.

Long touted as an international in waiting, Bell now averages a staggering 297 after scoring 70 against the West Indies and making 65 not out and 162 not out against Bangladesh in the first Test.

The 23-year-old became England's youngest centurion since Michael Atherton with a typically assured punch through the on side and, in his diligent and undemonstrative manner, he has much in common with the former skipper.

He has a far greater array of attacking weapons in his armoury though and, in becoming only the sixth English batsman to score a hundred runs before lunch, he warned the Australians to expect more than an obdurate obstacle at number four this summer.

In the continued absence of Mark Butcher, Robert Key and Kevin Pietersen had been talked of as possible re-enforcements in the middle order. After his successes in this series, they will have to wait in line behind Bell.

"A lot of other guys have been competing for this place," admitted the youngster. "So it was nice to get the opportunity to show what I can do.

"I know there will be more difficult tests ahead. But I feel like I'm in a good rhythm and I was able to step it up a gear when I needed to."

The rest of the summer will prove whether his England team-mates are capable of doing the same.

End