Fletcher refuses to blame England

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England coach Duncan Fletcher believes his team can benefit from their match with South Africa A, despite being on the back foot for much of day one.

The home side closed to within 92 of England's 225 with eight wickets intact and Fletcher admitted to BBC Sport: "We would like to have made more runs.

"You have to appreciate the conditions, the ball swung all the way through.

"I'm glad the wicket then flattened out as I wouldn't have wanted our bowlers to go out there on an easy wicket."

Fletcher chose not to be overly critical of the attacking nature of the England batting, which brought about a flurry of wickets at regular intervals.

It's a good opportunity for them to get some mileage in their legs Duncan Fletcher

"It was an excellent toss to win because there was plenty of bounce and the ball seamed all over the place in the morning," he said.

"There were some soft wickets but if you sit around you're going to get out for nothing and then you're going to say 'How much did I get out of that?'

"By going in and trying to be positive they were trying to get on top of the bowlers and they came a bit unstuck."

Following the disappointing performance with the bat, England's bowlers failed to significantly trouble the batsmen, although Fletcher felt that they did not have the helpful conditions the South African bowlers enjoyed.

"I don't think the wickets (in the Tests) will be like we saw in the first two or three hours anyway," he commented.

"It's a good opportunity for them to get some mileage in their legs and appreciate the disciplines that are going to be required here."