Collingwood: Ready for action

I think the way that we have prepared from the start is that we’re going to be playing against the world’s best, so if we just keep concentrating on our game no matter who we come up against we’ll do well.

Paul Collingwood
Quotes of the week

Paul Collingwood insists England’s one-day team is not resting on its laurels despite two successive victories over Sri Lanka.

England bounced back from their 119-run defeat in their first One-Day International (ODI) at Dambulla, by ending their 25-year wait for a victory in Sri Lanka on Friday.

And their two-wicket win on Sunday has now given England a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

As the two teams prepare to go head-to-head again in Colombo on Wednesday, Collingwood is convinced his team can wrap up a first series victory in Sri Lanka.

Challenge

The captain told Sky Sports News: “Before we came out here we spoke about it, we knew the history between the two sides.

“We knew it was going to be a massive challenge and so far the boys have come good.

“We learnt a hell of a lot off the first game and it would be great if we could win these last two games.

“We put two good performances in, but are still wanting to improve even on those performances.

“That’s the beauty of it at the moment everyone just wants to keep getting better and better.”

Injuries

Opposition off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan will definitely miss the remainder of the series and seamer Farveez Maharoof is also a doubt, but Collingwood and his squad are taking nothing for granted.

“I think the way that we have prepared from the start is that we’re going to be playing against the world’s best, so if we just keep concentrating on our game no matter who we come up against we’ll do well,” he added.

“We’ll finalise our team tomorrow. There’s such a great competition for places at the moment we’ll have to look at the wicket in the morning and finalise it then.”

Watch England versus Sri Lanka in the fourth ODI live on Sky Sports 1 from 10am on Wednesday.

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Tags: England, always, improving

Posted on September 23rd, 2006 by Klaus Roe
Filed under: News, Fun and Games