Vettori expects more from England

Daniel Vettori thinks England are a better side than their seventh place ODI ranking

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New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori believes England need to play more one-day cricket if they are to become a force in the shortened version of the game.

Vettori was speaking after the Kiwis gained a 3-1 success over England in the NatWest Series - the same scoreline as when the two sides clashed in the winter.

England have now dropped down to seventh position in the ICC one-day rankings - with only West Indies of the major cricketing nations below them in the 12-team table.

Spinner Vettori feels New Zealand suffer from their shortage of Test cricket which was again demonstrated in the recent series reversal against Michael Vaughan’s side.

But he can see that England could also be under-cooked in terms of the number of limited-overs internationals they play.

Vettori said: “Am I surprised England are seventh in the one-day table? I think in a lot of ways they are the flip side of us. They don’t play as much one-day cricket.

“I was very surprised that Owais Shah had only played 40 one-day internationals. Compare that to an Indian or Pakistan player who has racked up 100 games in next to no time.

“It certainly makes it more difficult (playing less games). We play a lot of one-day cricket and I am not exactly sure how much England play.

“But they have certainly got the talent to be a force in one-day cricket.”

Vettori believes New Zealand’s success against England, which ensured the remain third in the ICC rankings, owed a lot to keeping a tight rein on Kevin Pietersen.

He scored a century in England’s only win at Durham but was then restricted to just 27 runs in the next four innings.

Vettori praised Tim Southee who claimed 13 series wickets, including Kevin Pietersen here at Lord's

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Vettori is delighted with the way rookies such as Tim Southee and Grant Elliott have integrated into the New Zealand side.

Southee was voted man of the series after taking 13 wickets while Elliott made important contributions with bat and ball after being added to the side when Jacob Oram was injured.

He said: “Any time you beat a good team away from home, it means you have played well and we’ve got quite an inexperienced group plus some very senior players.

“We have got that balancing act. Some of the guys have played less then 10 one-dayers and for the man of the series to be Tim (Southee) was a tremendous effort.

“It means we are doing some good things in getting them up to speed in international cricket as quickly as possible.”

Meanwhile, England paceman Stuart Broad has leapt 22 places to a career-high 12th in the ICC's one-day rankings.

The 22-year-old Nottinghamshire seamer claimed seven wickets at an average of 21 in the NatWest Series, and is England’s leading bowler in the rankings.