da pixbet： Their recent one-day form may be depressing to put it mildly, but Englandwill take encouragement from the last Champions Trophy as they take onIndia in their first outing at this year’s event
The Preview by Dileep Premachandran in Jaipur14-Oct-2006
Flintoff: ‘The last time we played here, we were in a position to win the first gamein Delhi. We’ve got to learn to stay on top when we’re on top’ © Getty Images
Their recent one-day form may be depressing to put it mildly, but Englandwill take encouragement from the last Champions Trophy as they take onIndia in their first outing at this year’s event. Having outclassed SriLanka, they eased to a comfortable victory over Australia, before thedefiance of Ian Bradshaw and Courtney Browne denied them in the gloamingat The Oval. This time, there are no home conditions to take advantage of,but that may not be such a bad thing on the evidence of the 5-0 demolitionthat Sri Lanka meted out earlier this summer.As has been the case in recent times, their fortunes will flow and ebb intune with Andrew Flintoff’s performances. At his best, there’s no moredestructive allrounder in the game, but when he’s been off the pace,England have usually done little more than make up the numbers. And withthe World Cup also on the horizon, he has now given himself a newchallenge, opting to bat at No.3. “I’ve spoken with the coach and it’ssomething I feel I can do,” he said. “I had the chance earlier in mycareer, but I trust in my technique more now.”Even if he’s unlikely to bowl in the tournament, Flintoff remainedconvinced that England had the bowling firepower to trouble the best. Hebrushed off suggestions that Steve Harmison lacked the appetite forone-day cricket and was a poor traveller. “Steve Harmison’s committed, nomatter whether it’s one-day cricket or Test cricket,” he said. “As soon ashe gets out there, you know what you’re going to get. I have no worriesabout big Harmy.”Flintoff though was confident that a side comprising several new faceswould be up to the task in a group that also includes Australia, thefavourites. “If you look at the side now, it’s very flexible,” saidFlintoff. “Lads like [Michael] Yardy and [Jamie] Dalrymple have come inand performed straight away. [Andrew] Strauss and [Ian] Bell are in fineform. It’s a strong side and I’m hoping we’ll have success.”I don’t know where we’re rated,” he continued. “It’s a tough group, butalso an exciting one to be in.” As for India, he indicated that his teamwouldn’t make the mistake of concentrating on Sachin Tendulkar or otherindividuals alone. “He’s a fine player, one of the best ever,” saidFlintoff when asked how he aimed to stop Tendulkar’s first match on homesoil in nearly a year being a triumphant return. “But there are other fineplayers too. We’ve had a team meeting and made plans for them.”Yardy and Dalrymple both offered economical slow-bowling options whenpitchforked into the big time recently, but England’s hopes will float orsink based on how they tackle Harbhajan Singh and the other Indianspinners. “We’ve practised well since coming here,” said Flintoff. “We’vehad some local spinners bowling, and we’re prepared and confident.”The last time we played here, we were in a position to win the first gamein Delhi, but didn’t see it home. We’ve got to learn to stay on top whenwe’re on top, and also to manoeuvre the spinners around and score runs offthem.”He reckoned that he has a team that could beat anyone, but admitted thatstringing together consistent results had been a problem. And though theAshes are uppermost on most English minds, Flintoff suggested that histeam wouldn’t be distracted as they go about trying to end England’sterrible drought in the big one-day tournaments. “It would be nice tostart off playing well,” he said, when asked if Sunday’s game might setthe tone for the whole winter. “We need to concentrate on what’s happeningover the next few weeks. We got to the final of the Champions Trophy thelast time, and we’d like to win it. But as for the rest of the winter, Iwouldn’t read too much into it.”England (likely): 1 Andrew Strauss, 2 Ian Bell, 3 Andrew Flintoff(capt), 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Michael Yardy, 7 JamieDalrymple, 8 Chris Read (wk), 9 James Anderson, 10 Sajid Mahmood, 11 SteveHarmison.