Duncan Fletcher is hoping his decision to grant England's players a day off will help them focus solely on playing cricket for the rest of their controversial tour of Zimbabwe.

England's coach was concerned about several aspects of his side's display in the opening victory at the Harare Sports Club on Sunday, particularly the way they bowled at the start and also the manner in which they lost four wickets in 12 overs as they closed in on the five-wicket win.

Captain Michael Vaughan believed their nervous display could have been caused by the unusual build-up, when they were locked in meetings deliberating the pros and cons of continuing with the tour following the media dispute with the Zimbabwe government.

The tourists also feared demonstrations marring the opening match while there were private concerns that senior members of President Robert Mugabe's government may use the match for political gain.

In fact, the match passed off without incident but Fletcher still gave the squad Monday afternoon off to do as they please - the majority choosing to take advantage of nearby golf facilities - a decision which paid dividends with an impressive practice session yesterday morning.

''It was very important for them to relax yesterday,'' stressed Fletcher. ''We've been sitting in a hotel in Johannesburg and we've got the same thing here when we just go to the cricket ground and then back to the hotel.

''It was important they got out in big groups and relaxed for half a day because you have to look at the mental side of it.

''We've come here to play cricket, but you still have to prepare in the right manner to win a cricket match and if that preparation is going out in groups to relax then we have to do it.''

Fletcher is convinced England's uncertain performance was a hangover from the build-up to the tour and, despite efforts by the management team to ensure the squad concentrated on the game, several players looked distracted during the opening match.

''We didn't underestimate Zimbabwe at all,'' said Fletcher. ''I think the guys were pretty nervous, there was a lot of pressure on everyone to play in a first game of a tour that there's been a lot of criticism and as a result of that they were very nervous.

''You can't hide away from the fact that before the game there was a strange feeling in the camp, a mental thing. If you think about the build-up to this game it's been different to all other games we've played.''

He insisted: ''Anyone will tell you that you have to make sure you maintain the same routines, your same thought patterns when you go into any game and here the mental side of it was different, it was a different game when we went in there.

''That could have led to the bowlers being nervous, but we could have ended up playing a lot worse than we did and then we'd have been under pressure.

''You could see them get better as the day progressed and getting them to relax yesterday was important and as a result of that there was good energy - you could see from the way they warmed up that the guys seemed to be back on track.''

England's debriefing sessions from the opening match included two team talks yesterday morning before today's second match in the four-game series, when they are expected to field an unchanged line-up.

''We've just had a good discussion about things,'' added Fletcher. ''We were a bit concerned about how we started off with the bowling and ideally I would have liked us to win by seven wickets instead of five wickets. But for every negative there is a positive and it did give those other guys an opportunity to have a bit of a knock.''

Teams: England (from): IR Bell (Warwickshire), VS Solanki (Worcestershire), MP Vaughan (Yorkshire, capt), AJ Strauss (Middlesex), KP Pietersen (Hampshire), PD Collingwood (Durham), GO Jones (Kent, wkt), AF Giles (Warwickshire), AG Wharf (Glamorgan), D Gough (Essex), JM Anderson (Lancashire), SP Jones (Glamorgan), GJ Batty (Worcestershire), MJ Prior (Sussex).

Zimbabwe (from): T Taibu (capt & wkt), D Ebrahim, B Taylor, S Matsikenyeri, H Masakadza, M Vermeulen, E Chigumbura, V Sibanda, K Samunderu, D Hondo, T Panyangara, M Nkala, C Mpofu, E Rainsford, P Utseya, G Ewing.