Cricket: Insider's guide to ODIs

You get the feeling that John Bracewell knows the one-day game so well, he could take it apart like a favourite old hunting rifle, and re-assemble it blindfolded within 30 seconds.

Whatever other strengths New Zealand might be carrying into tomorrow night's tri-series final against the West Indies, the growing influence of Bracewell looms as one of the side's biggest weapons on the one-day international scene, and a point of difference over most other rivals.

Leaving aside his team's disappointing test series against England, the New Zealand coach has begun to string together one of the best records in the one-day international arena, following on from his remarkable six years of success with Glamorgan.

In fact, so successful has Bracewell been in the shorter game that New Zealand will rise to No 2 in the world rankings if they win at Lord's tomorrow night, not to mention stretching their winning streak to nine successive matches, including 13 wins in 15 ODIs since their coach was appointed.

So what is he doing right? Well, unlike England, the former test off-spinner has already identified the need for quality specialists and all-rounders in his squad, rather than sticking to the outdated ruse of picking part-timers.

Whereas five years ago players such as Chris Harris had been able to command a place in the side on the basis of some dubious all-round skills, Bracewell's plan calls for genuine quality cricketers who can fulfil their specialist roles.

To be fair, he has been also blessed with a couple of top-drawer all-rounders in Chris Cairns and Jacob Oram, players so talented that either could cement a place in the starting line-up on their batting or bowling alone.

And he also has a smattering of players such as Scott Styris and Craig McMillan, who - although winning a place in the side through their specialist strength - can still lend their hand to another role if required.

The results from the tri-series have only reinforced the need for genuine specialists. New Zealand's most successful batsmen so far have been Hamish Marshall (79.50) and Stephen Fleming (46.75), while the West Indies have received excellent contributions from Chris Gayle (90.66), and Ramnaresh Sarwan (55).

The bowling has been similar; specialist pacemen Dwayne Bravo (8 wickets), James Anderson (7), Steve Harmison (7), Ian Butler (6), James Franklin (6) and Jermaine Lawson (6) lead the way in their fields.

The other aspect that Bracewell seems to be getting right more often than not is the team's approach to the one-day game.

He said this week that England could take a leaf out of New Zealand's book, particularly in terms of striving too hard at times to dominate proceedings early.

The New Zealand side had completely changed their approach to one-day cricket in that they were now able to identify the way a game ebbed and flowed, and tailor their approach to suit the appropriate tempo.

"Our guys had always tried to win the game straight away, when in fact a one-day match is a very long affair.

"You can plan your resources to attack at different times, recognise when you have to slow the game down or even hold the game up because you have more time than you think."