HARARE (Reuters)
England coach Duncan Fletcher has played down the difficulty of the draw for the 2003 World Cup, which was made in Johannesburg.

England are in Pool A alongside Pakistan, Australia, India, Zimbabwe, the Netherlands and Namibia, while South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Kenya and Canada make up Pool B.

"At this stage it looks to be the slightly more difficult of the two groups," Fletcher said during England's opening match of their tour of Zimbabwe against Zimbabwe A in Harare. "But a lot can change in cricket over 18 months and we are looking to build a squad in that time that can compete against the world's best."

All the matches have yet to be finalised and the programme will only be announced on October 27 in Durban. The opening game was provisionally set for February 6 with the final scheduled for March 18 or 19 at The Wanderers ground in Johannesburg.

England failed to reach the second phase of the 1999 World Cup and are currently on an 11-match losing streak in one-day international cricket.

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