Fans' expectations low ahead of World Cup: Strauss
England's crushing defeat by Australia in the recent one-day series has lowered expectations among the fans captain Andrew Strauss said on Sunday.
- Associated Press
- Updated: February 14, 2011 12:49 AM IST
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England's crushing defeat by Australia in the recent one-day series has lowered expectations among the fans but done nothing to harm the team's confidence ahead of the World Cup, captain Andrew Strauss said on Sunday.
Strauss also said that all the injuries picked up during the three and half-month tour of Australia should have healed before the team's first match on Feb. 22.
England was trounced 6-1 in the one-day matches in Australia, a sobering defeat that followed an Ashes triumph and the capture of last year's World Twenty20 title in the Caribbean.
"Their (the fans') expectations will be lower than they were three or four weeks ago but that is fine, I mean ultimately you are allowed to experience defeat at times," Strauss told a news conference. "In a lot of ways, it can be a huge motivating factor so long as it does not erode your confidence. I don't think it has in our case."
The team returned to England last week and flew out to Bangladesh just four days later - a schedule that many commentators thought too intense ahead of the sport's premier tournament. Injuries picked up to key players during one-day matches only added to the grumbles.
Strauss said all-rounder Tim Bresnan and paceman Ajmal Shahzad may not be ready for this week's two warm-up matches in Bangladesh, but would be fit for the team's opener against the Netherlands in India.
Spinner Graham Swann, seen by many as vital to England's hopes in the tournament, was still in England awaiting the birth of a child but would also be available, Strauss said.
"All the injuries have more or less cleared up," he said. "The situation is getting better everyday."
Strauss also dismissed complaints over England's busy schedule.
"I don't think we are going to be tired," he said. "That is not going to be an issue at all and any reports otherwise are well off the mark."
Failure to progress from a group containing India, South Africa, the West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland and the Netherlands would be a major upset for England. However, there is a clear need to improve on recent one-day form.
"We are going to play on the subcontinent, something England has not done brilliantly in the past," Strauss said. "But I think we have got the raw materials there, we have a lot of talent in our squad, a lot of guys who can play expansive and aggressive cricket. We are going to need to do that over the course of the next six or seven weeks."
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