NAGPUR, (Reuters) – England captain Andrew Strauss expects Kevin Pietersen to thrive in his newly assigned opener’s role and wants the team to play the smart one-day cricket that was conspicuously absent in their recent tour of Australia.
Strauss and his men were spanked 6-1 in the one-day series in Australia, somewhat souring their Ashes triumph but the 67-run victory over Pakistan in Friday’s warm-up match seemed to have put them in a better frame of mind.
Going into the 50-over World Cup, which eludes England despite three final appearances, the team has tweaked the batting order, promoting Pietersen in place of Matt Prior who dropped to the middle order.
Strauss expects the position swap to do the trick for England, who begin their Group B campaign against the Netherlands here today.
“I’m very excited about that. The indications are pretty good,” Strauss, who will partner Pietersen at the top, told reporters yesterday.
“We always felt Kevin Pietersen can prosper at the top on the subcontinent’s flat, low-bounce wickets. That is perfect for his game.
“We have contrasting styles and that will make it hard for the bowlers to adjust. I’m very excited batting alongside Kevin and I think he can flourish.
“We had six good days in Bangladesh. We are buoyed by our performance against Pakistan. We have the full squad with (Graeme) Swann joining us. Everyone is fit and healthy. Now we need to get off to a good start.”
Strauss, who was not involved in England’s Twenty20 World Cup win in the Caribbean last year which was helmed by Paul Collingwood, was also happy with the way Prior had adjusted to playing further down the order.
“Matt Prior played brilliantly coming at number six against Canada and played a cameo against Pakistan as well.”
Turning to the one-day series in Australia, the England skipper said, “It was a frustrating two or three weeks in Australia. There were injuries at the wrong time and we did not play smart cricket.
“We are going to play against India next week (Feb 27) and we need to make sure that we play smart cricket.”
Strauss sounded wary of a couple of associate teams and was not ready to look beyond the quarter-final at this stage.
“I think Ireland and the Netherlands are strong associate nations. They are surely capable of a couple of upsets.
“If you want to win the tournament, you have to play consistent cricket right through from the group stages to the quarter-finals.
“The first job to do is to make sure to get to the quarter-final stage. You can afford a slip-up or two at the group stage but it is better not to.”
