Flight delays disrupt England's preparations

England's cricketers were delayed en route to Wellington, the venue for Saturday's opening one-day international against New Zealand, after Christchurch airport had to be closed for two hours following a security alert.

According to police, a 33-year-old woman passenger on an incoming plane from Blenheim stabbed at least one of the two pilots and then threatened to blow up the aircraft. The woman was arrested and sniffer dogs were deployed while the passengers were evacuated, but no explosives were found.

The incident caused a major backlog of flights, and England's departure was delayed for two-and-a-half hours, during which time they remained at their Christchurch hotel. Their scheduled training session at Wellington had to be abandoned and instead they held a team meeting at their hotel.

Paul Collingood, England's ODI captain, felt the two Twenty20 wins had given his side some positive headaches. "There's going to be some tough decisions, there's no question about that - the boys who have come in for the Twenty20 format have done really well," he said. "But you have to also remember the performances that we put in in Sri Lanka. I know we have different conditions here in New Zealand, but we're a well-oiled one-day side at the moment."

England sprung a surprise when they beat Sri Lanka 3-2 in an away series last year. They now play New Zealand for five ODIs.