da 888： Paul Collingwood hopes the presence of players with Twenty20 experience will give England an edge over other teams
Andrew McGlashan in Johannesburg10-Sep-2007
Paul Collingwood: “I wouldn’t make us favourites …every team is coming here and thinking theycould win it.” © Getty Images
Less than 48 hours after Paul Collingwood lifted his first piece ofsilverware as England captain his mind was turning towards the nexttrophy up for grabs. The team arrived in Johannesburg on Mondaymorning, along with India, completing the line-up for the ICC WorldTwenty20.The celebrations after the victory at Lord’s will barely have calmeddown – and Collingwood said the team was still ‘buzzing’ – but in themodern international game there isn’t much time to reflect. However,although the seven-match ODI series has denied England any warm-upmatches for the tournament, Collingwood believes the tight schedulecan benefit them.”We played some fantastic cricket against them [India] and we comeinto the World Twenty20 with a lot of confidence. We have gotexperienced Twenty20 cricketers amongst our squad and hopefully theycan give us a little bit of an edge over the other teams. We are alllooking forward to it, we are buzzing, it has only been a couple ofdays since we won the game on Saturday and I think that quickturnaround could work in our favour.”I think the same kind of skills are used in both forms ofthe game, maybe it’s just a little bit quicker. Of course it wouldhave been great to get a couple of games in, but all the players arein good form and confident, and when you are confident you go out andplay your best cricket. I think that will be a massive advantage tous.”The English domestic game has been at the forefront of Twenty20cricket and that is reflected in the 15-man squad with Jeremy Snape,Darren Maddy, Chris Schofield, Luke Wright and James Kirtley beingnamed in various specialist roles. But despite a seemingly significantadvantage in Twenty20 – Maddy and Snape are both in the top 10 ofmatches played, while no one else featuring in South Africa is on thelist – Collingwood was reluctant to think of his team as likelywinners. Andrew Flintoff is a massive player, I’ve always said he’s two players in one. Not just on the pitch, but his character off it too. He’s vital to us in the dressing room “I wouldn’t make us favourites, that’s the beauty about thiscompetition,” he said. “Every team is coming here and thinking theycould win it. Twenty20 cricket is like that; it only takes one inningsto turn the match around or one bowling spell. But I think it is anadvantage that we have been playing a lot recently. Our skills shouldbe up to scratch, obviously we are match-fit, and that’s the edge thatwe need to go all the way.”Although Collingwood said everyone was match fit, there are still hugequestion marks over Andrew Flintoff. He played through the pain atLord’s, after a steroid injection, and Collingwood didn’t commithimself to how much of a role he will play in the next two weeks.”We are just going to have to assess it as we go along. He’s desperateto play, obviously he has a little bit of soreness in the ankle sowe’ll have to be sensible. But so long as he is desperate to play andit’s the right decision for the day then Freddie will be playing.”And as Flintoff showed at Lord’s, when he claimed 3 for 45 includingthe scalps of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, he adds an aura tothe England team. “He is a massive player, I’ve always said he’s twoplayers in one,” added Collingwood. “Not just on the pitch, but hischaracter off it too. He’s vital to us in the dressing room and spurseveryone on. It’s great to have him here and hopefully he’ll play abig role.”With or without Flintoff, the team won’t be short on big-hitting poweras the lower order demonstrated against India. Dimitri Mascarenhasslammed five sixes in five balls at The Oval, but most of the talk hascentred around Sussex allrounder Luke Wright who made 50 off 38 ballson debut.He was promoted to open in the deciding match and although he fell fora second-ball duck, Collingwood said Wright’s place is likely to be atthe top where most of his success for Sussex stems from. “Maybe he’llbe in the top three, we’ve got to finalise our strategies but he’sobviously done very well up the top of the order and those six overs[with fielding restrictions] are going to be crucial.”There isn’t much time for Collingwood and Peter Moores, England’s coach, to put thefinishing touches to those plans and work out their best eleven.England’s opening match is against Zimbabwe, in Cape Town, on Thursday.