Hussain says England are ready for fired-up Kiwis

England captain Nasser Hussain said his side were prepared to face a fired-up New Zealand in the first one-day international in Christchurch on Wednesday.

Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Hussain said the two one-day warm up matches in Hamilton which ended in a loss and a win at the weekend were exactly what England needed.

"It was a great wicket and they [Northern Districts] were good opposition," Hussain said.

"It was all pretty different from what we had in India.

"The pitch was more like Perth than Cuttack, and we needed some game time on that sort of surface. We're now as ready as we need to be."

Hussain said England were below par at Hamilton, but when they came up against New Zealand with a big, vocal crowd in a good stadium "they will be up for it".

England's tour of New Zealand consists of five one-day internationals followed by a three-match Test series.

Hussain said improvements were needed in the team's fielding, batting in the first 15 overs and bowling at the "death".

"The important thing for us is not to over-react to hiccups in our game like we had in Hamilton," he said.

"We've talked about those games and often it's better to lose occasionally and then learn from our mistakes."

Hussain said the first two one-dayers (in Christchurch and Wellington) were crucial.

"New Zealand have played some very good cricket recently. You don't beat Australia three times in a row by playing badly, but they have also had some poor results against South Africa and may be on a bit of a downer after the heights they reached.

"On the other hand we came back against India and squared the series. Both sides will be eyeing the other up very keenly. I think we are similar sides with similar make-ups, and the series will be exciting."

Hussain said he was sad that New Zealand's new-found fast bowling star Shane Bond would not be playing but "not too disappointed".

Mail Cricket Editor