England skipper knows it would be something special to lift the World Twenty20 trophy in front of the home fans
England skipper knows it would be something special to lift the World Twenty20 trophy in front of the home fansSoccer-crazy Paul Collingwood is dreaming of becoming the first England captain to win a World Cup at home since legendary footballer Bobby Moore.
Durham all-rounder Collingwood, who captained the England one-day team for a year before resigning, yesterday revealed he carefully examined the pros and cons before accepting the captaincy of the Twenty20 team.
"Not many people get the chance to captain England in any sport but to lead them into a World Cup in your own backyard is something special.
Amazing"We all know there haven't been too many World Cup victories enjoyed here so to be the skipper of a side winning the World Twenty20 would be amazing.
"It is only the second time the competition has been held, which is an added draw, and I really believe we have a great chance of doing pretty well because we have numerous match-winners in our squad."
But Collingwood also knows only too well that although his team is expected to win today's tournament opener against Holland at Lord's comfortably, that will not come to pass if his men are not mentally prepared for the challenge.
"It will be a once in a lifetime chance for the Dutch players to shine at Lord's and they will relish the opportunity to do just that," he said.
"We have to be professional in our approach if we want to make sure it is not us who is on the wrong end of a shock result and I am sure we will do just that because we have a strong, balanced squad."
Symonds sent back
Meanwhile, the Australians, rocked by the decision to send maverick match-winning all-rounder Andrew Symonds home for undisclosed reasons, were putting a brave face in what is a repeat of Shane Warne being sent home on the eve of the World Cup in South Africa in 2003, although for different reasons.
Skipper Ricky Ponting obliquely admitted that alcohol consumption, which has been Symonds' Achilles heel in the past and which has got him in repeated trouble with his national Board, was behind the extreme step.
Admitting that the absence of Symonds, whom Ponting and the Australian Board have backed steadfastly despite his trespasses, the captain stressed that his teammates, who practised at the Oval yesterday morning, had put the incident behind them and were focusing on the tournament.
Meanwhile coach Tim Nielsen said he believed his side, current holders of the World Cup and the Champions Trophy, have what it takes to add the T20 Trophy to their impressive hardware collection.
The coach insists his team have the winning formula, which has been reflected in their warm-up matches against Bangladesh and New Zealand.
"We have a really good mix of players now," Nielsen said (this was before the Symonds episode). With Brett at (number) 10 we bat all the way down. We also have seven or eight blokes who are frontline bowlers so we think we have a good mix.
"When we are fielding at our best we are probably as good as anybody. When most people are on their games, as we have shown in the last couple of days, we're going to be hard to beat. If we prepare well we are going to be right there amongst it."
India start their title defence against Bangladesh at Trent Bridge, Nottingham tomorrow.
