Don't Luke now - England are heading in the Wright direction, says Bracewell

England won the two Twenty20 internationals between the countries during the winter before the Kiwis hit back to triumph 3-1 in the ODI series with one match ending in a tie.

Now battle will resume over the next three weeks after England triumphed 2-0 in the recent Test series with Bracewell seeing signs of England starting to establish themselves in the shorter versions of the game.

Perfect swing: Luke Wright has a 360degree arc, according to New Zealand coach John Bracewell

The former Gloucestershire coach said: "We beat England in the winter but they were all pretty good games that could have gone either way at certain times.

"For me, the English side is a vastly improved one-day side and is moving in the right direction. That is good to see for them and it will make for a very competitive series.

"They have struggled with their balance between the two forms of the game but, if you look at the side now, it is probably a little bit more athletic than teams they have fielded in the past.

"They have also got their selection combinations pretty well right in terms of their balance of all-rounders and specialists."

Bracewell does not see the England top order as a weak link to exploit with the inclusion of Sussex all-rounder Wright, who opened in both Twenty20 games with the Kiwis and also featured in three of the one-dayers.

He said: "Luke is different to what Phil Mustard was in the winter. Mustard was quite easy to cut down because he only really had one arc of swinging.

"Luke, in contrast, is almost a 360-degree player and, once he starts to harness that, I think he will be a pretty useful one. That gives them another dimension.

"England are developing, are learning the game quite rapidly, and they will give us a run for our money."

Bracewell admitted the double Twenty20 defeat during the winter forced his side to successfully rethink their strategies for the 50-over contests.

He said: "I think the Twenty20s did have a slight impact in New Zealand because it shook us into gear a bit. They came at us very hard and bowled hard in that form of the game.

"They gave us a bit of an indication of how they were going to approach the one-dayers so we could re-set our strategies to combat that so I don't expect anything different, especially at Old Trafford."

Bracewell is looking to tap into the knowledge of the six players in his squad who played in the Indian Premier League.

He said: "I think the fact they were invited into the IPL is a reflection that they have been good at this form of the game.

"It will be interesting when I sit down with the IPL guys and just say 'did you notice any trends throughout the tournament?'

"We have not had the opportunity to do that yet because we've been training and travelling - especially with Scott Styris.

"He was there for the whole tournament and it will be interesting to see whether he noticed there were changes in strategies or whether they were just peculiar strategies conducive to day-night Twenty20 on the small grounds in India.

"They are bigger grounds over here and you need to play not necessarily over the ground. You can play through the field in this country."