Bell: England need to start winning

England have arrived in New Zealand at the start of a two-month tour that culminates in a three-Test series in March, but already the squad is looking further afield. Ian Bell, one of the few survivors of the 2005 Ashes, believes that the squad must use this series as a springboard if they are to have a hope of overcoming Australia when they next tour in 2009.

England's Ashes triumph in 2005 was not a one-off victory, rather the pinnacle of a two-year rise through the rankings, in which time England won six Test series in a row. A similar timescale lies ahead of the team now, and Bell knows how important momentum will be to their chances of overcoming the Aussies.

"The major goal for me and the team is the 2009 Ashes and we've got a lot of big cricket on the way to that," he said. "When we won in 2005, we started to build up that momentum before then and got used to the habit of winning and, as we sit here now in New Zealand, we want to do that again.

England have an arduous schedule over the next 18 months, encompassing home and away series against New Zealand, a four-Test rubber against South Africa, followed by trips to India and the West Indies next winter. "It's important that England are winning matches now," said Bell. "Looking at the fixtures we've got coming up, this is one step towards trying to peak at the right time.

For the time being, however, it is England's one-day cricket that takes centre stage, with the first of two Twenty20 matches against New Zealand getting underway on February 5. Following their lengthy flight from Heathrow, England's new fitness coach, Marcus Church, put them through their paces in Christchurch ahead of a two-hour net.

Paul Collingwood, the captain, missed the majority of the session following a minor lower back spasm, but he is expected to be fit for the first warm-up match against Canterbury on Saturday.