England begin their second phase of the World Twenty20 today against the team described by Paul Collingwood as the strongest of the competition so far. The captain is anything but daunted, though, by the challenge that South Africa are about to pose at Trent Bridge. “I think they will find out now where their weak links are,” Collingwood said.
After the setback against the Netherlands, it has taken only one confident defeat of Pakistan to imbue the dressing room with a bullishness altogether missing from the build-up. The feeling persists within cricket that the way to beat South Africa is to go hard at them, and Collingwood clearly relishes that prospect.
Self-belief was evident again when he expressed regret at Australia’s elimination on the ground that England will not enjoy the opportunity to inflict the kind of blow in 20-over cricket that they recorded in 2005 with the 100-run victory before the Ashes. “We could have set down a marker,” Collingwood said.
Instead, England will face West Indies in their final Super Eights game at the Brit Oval on Monday, 24 hours after taking on India at Lord’s. If they continue their sequence of positive results against West Indies, a win against South Africa or India ought to secure a semi-final place.
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“It is a very serious group,” Collingwood said. The biggest enemy is inconsistency. As the captain said, England were excellent against West Indies in the warm-up and Pakistan four days ago. He did not have to say that they were awful against the Netherlands and moderate in the practice match against Scotland.
England beat South Africa 4-0 in the one-dayers here last season, but Graeme Smith and his colleagues felt that their tour job was already completed in winning the Test series. They have the best fielding side, a series of hitters, an outstanding young batsman in A. B. de Villiers and a balance of pace, swing and spin.
Graeme Swann and Adil Rashid turn the ball as much as Johan Botha and Roelof van der Merwe, but the South Africans make a canny pair, conceding only 65 runs in 15 overs in the first group stage. Botha’s full, quicker ball is particularly effective, and he has a doosra. But the influence of slow bowling may be determined by Steve Birks, the Trent Bridge groundsman, who will decide this morning whether to allocate a new or used pitch.
No build-up would be complete without a Kevin Pietersen question, even though South Africa have long come to terms with the defection of their compatriot. “We control our emotions very well now,” Smith, the captain, said. “We would rather look at executing good skills than get into scrambles that don’t need to be there.”
Collingwood, who smiled at criticism of his captaincy by Shane Warne in The Times yesterday, said that Pietersen has suffered no reaction from his tender Achilles tendon and will play. There is also a possibility today that Andrew Flintoff may begin his return from knee surgery for Lancashire in the LV County Championship game against Durham. Flintoff was not named in the Lancashire 12, but will have a fitness test this morning with Peter Moores, the head coach, hinting that a place will be found if the all-rounder has recovered sufficiently. As a contracted player, Flintoff cannot play without England’s permission, but the ECB said: “If the Lancashire medical staff deem him fit enough, he has the go-ahead to play.”
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England have also confirmed that John Buchanan, the former Australia coach, will be in Britain ostensibly to work with junior teams and the Lions at the end of the month. But he will also meet Andy Flower, the England team director, and it is impossible to think that talk will not focus on the Ashes series starting on July 8.