Holders Australia and losing finalists Pakistan will both meet Nasser Hussain's England in the pool stages of the 2003 World Cup.

England will also meet India in a seven-strong Pool A of the competition, to be held in February and March in South Africa.

The pools are based on seedings from a table of one-day international performances of all countries, and were confirmed today in Johannesburg.

The England coach, Duncan Fletcher is confident he can whip England into the right shape to take on the holders. "At this stage, and on current form, it looks to be slightly the more difficult of the two groups," he conceded.

But Fletcher believes England are on the right lines and he added: "A lot can change in cricket in 18 months, and we're looking to build a squad in that time which can compete with the world's best one-day sides."

The hosts, South Africa, will face the West Indies in the 2003 tournament's opening fixture under the lights at Newlands in Cape Town.

The opening match will be played during the first week of February and will signal the start of a 54-match tournament to be contested by 14 nations.

The exact World Cup schedule will be confirmed in Durban on October 27, but the final is expected to take place on either March 15 or March 16.

© CricInfo Ltd.