KEY POINTS:
Barbados and Bloemfontein might be a world apart but the connection hasn't been lost on Stephen Fleming.
The man charged with leading New Zealand into new territory at this month's World Cup is well aware of the costly blunder at the start of his side's 2003 campaign, and is determined not to let the same thing happen in 10 days' time against England.
It was four years ago that an advance party of New Zealand coaching staff - led by assistant Ashley Ross - misread conditions at Bloemfontein so badly that the opening game against Sri Lanka was lost almost before it started.
The scouting report predicted such a seam-friendly environment at Goodyear Park that New Zealand were persuaded to drop Daniel Vettori, cram their team full of pacemen, and bowl first when Fleming won the toss.
They eventually lost to a Sri Lankan outfit that employed four spinners on a wicket that played lower and slower as the day wore on.
New Zealand's opening match against England at St Lucia carries even more weight on this occasion because of the format rules, which restrict second round sides to carrying through only those points gained against fellow qualifiers.
Fleming is keenly aware that a win against England on Friday week will provide his side with a crucial head-start on four of his rivals, and position New Zealand nicely for a straight-forward gallop into the semifinals.
But he knows that to achieve the desired result at St Lucia will require pinpoint planning in the lead-up.
"Our main concern is assessing the conditions correctly, getting the right selection, and adopting the most effective style for the situation," he said yesterday.
"There's no point going into the match with all your seamers if it's going to play low and slow and vice-versa - it's no good using all your slow bowlers if it's going to deck around.
"Most of the pitches over here have only been laid in the past few months so the nature of them is unknown."
Fleming, whose side begin their formal preparations with a warm-up match against Bangladesh this morning, said the lack of information about the pitch conditions and the threat of an upset from the lesser teams meant New Zealand had to be ruthless in their planning and execution.
Speaking from Bridgetown, he said the memory of Bangladesh's shock win over Pakistan in 1999 and Kenya's upset against Sri Lanka in 2003, would ensure that everyone in the camp would be on full alert from the start.
New Zealand follow up their showdown against England with perceived shoo-ins against Kenya and Canada.
"I think the quality of these so-called minnows has been improving dramatically and I wouldn't be surprised if there's one or two upsets.
"In some ways it's more challenging to play these games because of the overwhelming expectation, the fact you don't know much about them, and the foreign conditions - which can easily lead to a slip-up."
* Paceman Mark Gillespie will see a specialist tomorrow to find the cause of a shoulder injury that's apparently robbing him of power in his right arm. He had an MRI scan yesterday and is to undergo further tests today.
