There is a mighty opportunity, first on this lively looking Wellington pitch, then at Christchurch, by report the livliest pitch in the land, and finally in the five-match limited over series, to free the memory from disappointment and fill the heart with hope for a summer against Australia.

It is not too tall an order, little is in cricket given leadership, discipline and a touch of humility, and the players are not so humdrum as their performances suggest. But they have forgotten how to win which is debilitating and leads to the obvious loss of real, rather than acted, self belief. It is as if they discovered themselves with inspired passages of play and then, uncertain that their position of power can be true, sneak back into their insular shell rather than branch out and grab their moment.

They do not help themselves with performances such as the one in Wanganui, where New Zealand A stole the show by applying the basics of the game and the depth of their will. England cricketers are used to coping with disappointment and have come back vividly after more galling defeats than this one. Triumphs in Barbados in April '94, Adelaide '95 and Manchester against the West Indies in July '95 come to mind.

Such A teams are dangerous opposition, because they are not public property so do not suffer the pressure cooker of the modern media and because they play with the excitement of the unknown and a desire born of desperation to reach the front. Desperation in a sportsman is a valuable thing and is why the West Indians of the '80s and Pakistanis of the '90s overcame their varied back- grounds and made it to the top.

The present Australians have it because the general standard of cricket in their country is so strong that competition for places is at fever pitch. Too much gold, in the form of fawning acclaim and exaggerated reward rarely makes for successful sportsmen, especially now in this harsher age. Mostly A teams are fearless young cricketers with gold to gain and it is not always England who suffer at their expense.

Adam Hollioake led what was effectively an England A team against the strong South Africa A tourists last summer in England and beat them by a distance. Hollioake led England A earlier this winter to Australia and admirably achieved most of what could have been asked from his team. Previous England A teams, bar the one in Australia four years ago, have responded to the challenge of touring and surprised their hosts who hear only of a substandard English game. The best A team cricketers of England need urgent promotion while their confidence and will is intact.

It was a pity that England did not see in advance the threat of New Zealand A and resolve to put it down. The game was poorly scheduled, coming just 36 hours after a full and frustrating Test match, and it was a poor toss to lose on a dodgy pitch.

But New Zealand sensed their opponent's lack of commitment, the subconscious decision of the senior England players to keep something in reserve for the back to back Test matches which followed and seized their moment. England should have sensed their own moment to build confidence and remember how to win and should have played the match as if their very life depended on it. After all, it is their chosen living and the argument that it asked too much of them was thin.

During consecutive winters England have lost to the Australian Academy in Sydney, South Africa A in Kimberley and now New Zealand A in Wanganui and have found excuses. Excuses for defeat against lesser teams indicate too much gold too soon and need to be replaced by the bare-knuckled commitment of winners.

Still, the milk is spilt and in sympathy to the players it is worth the administrators who agree these itineries, and this one since Dec 15 in Bulawayo has been an unkind one, allowing space between Test matches for the players to take in the country they are touring and to take stock.

The absolutely committed coach David Lloyd said as much in Wanganui but there was the irritation in his voice because emotion tends to get the better of him when his charges are accused.

Lloyd longs for England to succeed and if the passion which sometimes overcomes him in the form of unworthy heated words can be directed into the dressing room then England have a valuable addition to their ammunition for the testing months ahead. They have it in them to win and now they must find it for themselves. England expects.