ANTIGUA: CRICKET - Australia and England prepare for their World Cup Super Eights clash in St. John's

England all-rounder Paul Collingwood said the fact Australia had not been challenged so far in the World Cup gave England a better chance of surprising them in their Super Eights clash at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Sunday. World champions Australia believe they can all but eliminate England from the World Cup on Sunday (April 8) in their final Super Eights match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium. Australia, who travel to Barbados and Grenada for the remainder of the second round after Sunday's match, top the Super Eights standings with six points. England have only two. Coach John Buchanan told reporters after practice on Thursday the 2-0 loss to England in the tri-series final this year had been relegated to history after his team's victory in a 13-a-side warm-up match in St Vincent. Buchanan said England had a deep batting order and identified number three Ian Bell as their best batsman at the moment. "You know all our bowlers have spoken a little bit last night about what they are going to do if they happen to see him or any other players coming down the wicket. You know Ian Bell's done a little bit of it as well of late against us, he has come up and out of his crease particularly when Nathan Bracken's been bowling early on so, you know, we've changed a few things up to combat what they are doing," said Australian captain Ricky Ponting. Australia must decide this week who they select in place of injured all-rounder Shane Watson, who left the field in last Saturday's match against Bangladesh with a minor tear in his left calf muscle. Batsman Brad Hodge, who scored a century in the first round while Andrew Symonds was out of action, is the likely replacement while Queensland all-rounder James Hopes has been put on standby in case Watson does not recover at least in time for the semi-finals on April 24 and 25. Buchanan said the selectors were still undecided whether to include a batsman or a bowler on Sunday. England all-rounder Paul Collingwood said the fact Australia had not been challenged so far in the World Cup gave England a better chance of surprising them in their Super Eights clash. Defending champions Australia have won all their matches so far with ease, including the 83-run win over world number one ranked South Africa in the group stage. England, in contrast, have already lost to New Zealand and Sri Lanka despite coming into the tournament on a high after beating Australia away in a tri-series final in February. "I think Freddie's (Andrew Flintoff) said that he's hitting them well in the nets, he needs to get up to 20, get up to 30 and then really get onto the back end of his innings, get them big fours and sixes going and at the moment he's obviously not getting any starts. So hopefully he can do that, hopefully he can get in on these wickets, cos they are difficult wickets to get in on and so, you know, he's only one innings away from kick-starting things and that's the way all of us approach them," said Collingwood. A defeat by Australia would not definitely eliminate England from a semi-final spot but they would have to win their three remaining games against Bangladesh, South Africa and hosts West Indies and hope other results go their way. The seven-week World Cup culminates in the April 28 final in Barbados.

ITN Source | April 9, 2007

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