England captain Michael Vaughan is hoping England will use the forthcoming triangular one-day series with New Zealand and the West Indies as a building block in their quest to win the Champions Trophy.
Unlike Test matches, which remain important in themselves to most cricketers, the sheer volume of one-day internationals have tended to make them become something of a blur for players and fans alike.
However, the presence in the calendar of the World Cup, held every four years, and the Champions Trophy, the International Cricket Council's 'mini World Cup' which takes place every two years, provide useful landmarks
The next World Cup is not until 2007 in the West Indies but England will host the Champions Trophy for the first time this September.
And Vaughan said Tuesday: "Obviously we are trying to pick our squad to win every tournament that we are in, starting with this one, but the big one at the end of the summer is that Champions Trophy.
"I keep talking about building, but while you are building you can win games as well and it's a great opportunity for everyone in the squad to really make their mark on the game."
{{/usCountry}}"I keep talking about building, but while you are building you can win games as well and it's a great opportunity for everyone in the squad to really make their mark on the game."
{{/usCountry}}England's preparations have been disrupted by injuries to opening batsman Marcus Trescothick (ankle) and all-rounder Andrew Flintoff (foot) with both players likely to miss Thursday's series opener, a day/night match against New Zealand, at Old Trafford.
Uncapped Glamorgan batsman Michael Powell and Surrey's Rikki Clarke, left out of England's 14-man triangular squad, have been called in as cover.
Trescothick is England's leading limited overs batsman while Flintoff's aggression with the bat and economical pace bowling make him an equally valuable member of Vaughan's limited overs line-up.
Flintoff, however, has missed large chunks of international cricket because of playing while injured and was sidelined from the entire Ashes series in 2002-03 after being rushed back from hernia surgery.
Vaughan said of Flintoff, England's current player of the year: "We've got to look at the long term and the summer we've got ahead. We definitely don't want to risk him in a game and put him back a few weeks."
Earlier this month England completed a 3-0 Test whitewash of New Zealand having defeated West Indies by the same scoreline during their preceding Test series in the Caribbean.
Fast bowler Stephen Harmison was instrumental in both those victories and England will be wary of overbowling their prize asset.
That should see the likes of James Anderson getting a chance to revive their international careers.
Although overwhelmed in the Tests, West Indies fought back to square the subsequent one-day series at 2-2.
West Indies, despite the embarrassment of a defeat by Ireland earlier in their tour, look to be finding form with their key batting trio of captain Brian Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul all in the runs in recent matches.
Before the Ireland defeat, Lara admitted: "It's been tough, England beating the West Indies (in a Test series) for the first time in 36 years.
"That's the past. We have to look forward to the next Test series and one-day tournaments. We've learned from our experiences."
Meanwhile New Zealand, under coach John Bracewell, the mastermind behind Gloucestershire's run of six one-day trophies in five years until he quit the English county at the end of last season, have won nine of their 11 limited overs internationals since the former Test off-spinner took charge.
And Kiwi captain Stephen Fleming said Tuesday: "We have to win this tournament, get to the final at Lord's, to make sure we go home with our heads held higher than they would have been if we were knocked out early."