After England's five-wicket victory over Northern Districts at WestpacTrust Park in Hamilton, England coach Duncan Fletcher spoke to the press about the two warm-up games and England's readiness for the One-Day International series against New Zealand. He began by assessing his team's performance over the weekend.

"It was quite a good work out, but I still think that we should have won the first game. [Simon] Doull batted well, but our bowlers didn't think about what they were doing. They didn't think about their variations enough. When someone is going like that you've got to vary it. It's all about decision-making.

"We had a really good chat with them one-on-one yesterday and they came out today and gave quite a bit of thought to it."

Andrew Flintoff was the first individual to be mentioned after his three for 20 and blistering 25-ball 45 that finished off the match today.

"He can change the game in a couple of overs and put the pressure back on the fielding side and that is important in one-day cricket. It's not always going to come off and we must be careful not to build him up too much. A couple of failures and everyone's jumping on him. It's going to be slow progress, but its nice to see the way he's thinking about putting his shots together."

Work in the nets earlier in the tour has helped Flintoff with his batting.

"It is a confidence thing, but we worked something out in India about his set-up and it seems to have paid dividends. At one stage he was a little bit lost with his footwork, but he now seems to have got that right."

Fletcher agreed that Middlesex batsman Owais Shah has impressed in both warm-up matches after missing out on selection in India. Will he come into the selection equation for the ODI series?

"We won our last two games in India so it would be pretty strange to suddenly change the side around but it is pleasing to see that we have that depth. Shah batted very, very well today."

Fletcher was asked about the indifferent performance of Andy Caddick in the two games in Hamilton.

"Caddy will realise that he's a far better bowler than those performances, but he's a good player who will come good on the night."

Was Caddick striving to impress too much on his return to the country of his birth?

"Perhaps he's trying too hard," Fletcher suggested, "You never know what's inside a man's mind."

The coach was pleased with Craig White's return to the side after missing the series in India because of a knee operation. Will he be fit for the ODI series?

"I think that he will be fit enough. He bowled well in both matches, but I think that its important that he gets some runs as well and plays as a genuine all-rounder."

With Marcus Trescothick taking the gloves in the first match here and James Foster still short of living up to his promise, it has been suggested that the Somerset player will take over behind the stumps for the international series. Fletcher refused to commit himself on selection issues, but dropped a clear hint.

"Trescothick's got enough to do opening the batting. We don't want him to start having to think about his 'keeping and then take his eye off the ball when he's opening the batting."

Fletcher assessed the forthcoming series in terms of preparation for the World Cup, which will be under way this time next year.

"We're a very inexperienced side, so every game we play is important. We haven't played enough ODI cricket, but we have a heavy programme from here on in, which is good. The only trouble is how we pick the side. Do we tinker with it to give everyone a fair chance or do we try to stick with eleven so that they get enough games in before the World Cup?"

He agreed that it would be a close series.

"New Zealand will be very competitive. They are keen to beat England and always seem to raise their game against us. They have a lot of energy which is important in one-day cricket. They look to be a very tight unit."

The five-match ODI series begins in Christchurch on Wednesday.

© CricInfo