Look at the headlines coming from the England camp in New Zealand after the last one-day international and it appears there is a wide divergence of views between the coach and the captain.

Coach Duncan Fletcher went on record in saying that he believed England had narrowed the gap on top sides like Australia and South Africa, while the captain, Nasser Hussain, was emphasising that his side are "nowhere near competing for a World Cup final spot."

Closer examination of their respective comments, however, reveals that the pair who have been so instrumental in reviving England's international fortunes are still singing from the same song sheet. Fletcher says that, while the gap has been narrowed, there is still much ground to be made up, while Hussain points out the existing deficiencies but also points to the progress made in one-day performances in recent months.

Both were speaking after the conclusion of the one-day series in New Zealand which the home side won 3-2, after taking a 2-0 lead early on. England had shown similar fighting qualities after a poor start in India, where they came back to draw the series 3-3, after thumping Zimbabwe 5-0 in October.

Coming after an eleven game losing streak, including failure to win a single match during the triangular series with Australia and Pakistan in the last English season, these results do indeed show a move in the right direction.

Fletcher justified his view of the state of play by saying: "For the first time since I've been involved with England we have worked as a unit. The gap has narrowed between us and the top teams. South Africa and Australia are still well ahead of the rest but I believe that gap has narrowed.

"New Zealand came back proud of their performances in Australia, yet we had a very close series with them. If we had got one or two wickets earlier in the final game we could have won the series.

"We have got a pretty good side and there is a lot of potential. We are in the next group of teams behind South Africa and Australia. The majority of this squad have got a good chance for the next World Cup and we are ahead of where I wanted to be by the end of this winter.

"There are of course areas we have to improve such as the fielding. We need to learn how to dive and the athletic side of things in the field. If we had fielded better the results would have shown that."

Hussain acknowledges that progress has been made, but is all too aware of the aspects of the game that still leave room for improvement. " Since leaving for Zimbabwe we have changed the side a little bit and we have worked hard for each other and have done 70% of the basic skills well, but we have 30% to work on and we have to concentrate on key areas. I look forward to working out those key areas and trying to move on - we've got to look at those areas and see where we can go another stage further."

He was ready to pay credit to those players who have made significant strides towards securing a place in plans for the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. "People have positioned themselves well for the World Cup. A few months ago if we'd have had an injury it would have been difficult to say who's going to come in and yet now when Vaughan's injured you have Shah coming in and scoring a very accomplished 50.

"I think we're heading in the right direction. We should have beaten Zimbabwe, but we did well to beat them 5-0. We did very well to go to India and come out with a 3-3 draw and if we'd have played anything like we can do in Christchurch when we were 150 for two and ended up 190 all out, we should have beaten New Zealand.

"We're a better team than we were at the start of the winter and we've made progress in a lot of areas, but in two or three areas we haven't. We're still a little bit sloppy in the field. We have good days and bad days and that's an area we're going to have to improve upon if we're going to compete with Australia and South Africa."

Now Hussain can step back from the action and focus his thoughts on the Test series that begins on March 13th in Christchurch. He is missing the three-day game against Otago in Queenstown to have a rest and spend time with his wife, Karen, and their young son Jacob who have just arrived in New Zealand.

Fletcher said that Marcus Trescothick will lead the side in the next match to enable Hussain to have a break.

"I don't think people really appreciate how demanding his job is both mentally and physically. It's important that he gets away, clears his mind and is fresh for when we get to Christchurch.

"I've told him. I don't want to see him around the place for a couple of days. We have got to make sure that in two weeks time he is not too tired because by then it will be too late.

"Marcus might need a break when we get to Christchurch. The ones that play in this game will get a break next week."

The six members of the party who have arrived specifically for the Tests - Mark Butcher, Mark Ramprakash, Usman Afzaal, Warren Hegg, Richard Dawson and Jimmy Ormond – are all likely to play in Queenstown, but Michael Vaughan will not be available for selection having injured his shoulder in the Auckland one-dayer.

Among those travelling back to England is Darren Gough. He has enjoyed a very successful one-day tour with 21 wickets in 11 matches, but he made himself unavailable for the Test series in India before Christmas to take a break from international cricket and, in so doing, eliminated himself from consideration for the Tests against New Zealand.

Hussain admitted, "It's hard to see him go. He's a top performer and, as Captain, he's always the first name on your team-sheet, the way he plays his game, the way he is in the dressing room.

"But myself and the selectors have been left in charge of English cricket for the next couple of years not just the next month and we have to take a long-term view on things."

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