Nasser Hussain obviously called the right shots as he led England from 1-3 down to draw the one-day series 3-all with India earlier this week, and he was still playing the right strokes when he brought his England team into Auckland this afternoon for their eight-week tour of New Zealand.

Hussain praised the way New Zealand have performed in Australia this summer, politely did not play a shot and let any criticism of bonus points go through to the 'keeper, and looked forward to a close-fought, entertaining series in New Zealand.

"I remember we played some really good cricket when we last toured here in 1996/97, New Zealand beat us in the one-dayers, which was a pity, but we won the Test series. I think it would have been 3-0 in the Tests if Danny Morrison had not batted for a week at Auckland," said Hussain.

"Our matches have always been close. We are similar types of players - team spirit, no super-stars, and I do not mean that in a derogatory way. Our players all work for each other.

"We are at about the same level in world cricket at the moment, and I am looking forward to a fascinating series."

While praising New Zealand for their efforts in the Tests and one-dayers in Australia, Hussain said he did not know quite how to react to that series.

"I did not want New Zealand to win, and thus build up their confidence going into the matches against us. I also did not want to see Australia win - but it was nice to see both teams play good cricket."

To the inevitable question, "Would you concede a bonus point in the way New Zealand pipped Australia for a place in the one-day finals?" Hussain said: "Well, we would just try and get any kind of point, bonus or not.

"But it is not really our business and I do not want to comment too much about it. There are rules and laws there and you play to them, it is as simple as that. Then the administrators must look at the idea, and work out whether it is good for cricket."

Hussain drew criticism when he used a form of leg-theory bowling in attempt to limit Sachin Tendulkar's scoring in the December Tests in India, but today Hussain said he played within the rules - "And it made for fascinating cricket, it was not dull cricket."

Both Hussain and the England coach Duncan Fletcher made the point that England were a young side in re-building mode, and both agreed that the rebuilding was beginning to bring the right results.

However, Hussain conceded the lead to New Zealand in the supply of very experienced players - "New Zealand have been able to keep together a strong core of players in recent years, while we are in the re-building process."

Both the England leaders were pleased at the way their new players were progressing and Fletcher said that captaincy of Hussain was also a large factor in the team's performance.

"The way England came back from 1-3 to draw the one-day series showed a lot of character, and a lot of this stems from Nasser's leadership," said Fletcher. "This showed the other night when he tightened his grip on the game, and eventually the pressure told on the Indians."

The England team will move to Hamilton tomorrow for training, golf this afternoon, and then warm-up one-day matches against Northern Districts on Friday and Sunday.

Fletcher would not be drawn on the proposition that all the England players would get some playing time against Northern Districts, but Hussain had his preparation plans in place.

"We were able to watch some of the New Zealand-Australian matches while we were in India," said Hussain. "We know there is a promising fast bowler we have not seen, and some of the batsmen are new to us, so we will have to get some videos together and find out how they play."

Hussain's last good-tour wish was that the Barmy Army arrive in big numbers to support England, and that plans to have a New Zealand supporters group are followed through.

"I do hope the crowd numbers will be up. It is always nice when there is a good crowd building up the atmosphere."

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