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| January 11, 2007 | Thursday | Zilhaj 20, 1427 |
‘England need change of momentum’
MELBOURNE, Jan 10: England need a change of momentum in Australia if they are to challenge in the triangular one-day series, batsman Paul Collingwood said on Wednesday.
Hammered 5-0 in the Ashes series and humbled by Australia in Tuesday's Twenty20 encounter in Sydney, England are hoping for a lift in the one-day series, which starts against Ricky Ponting's side at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday.
The introduction of one-day specialists Ed Joyce, Paul Nixon and Jamie Dalrymple did little to prevent Australia from inflicting a crushing 77-run victory after making the highest-ever international score in the new format.
“We have to change the momentum in some way,” Collingwood told reporters.
“Sometimes it takes one big performance — a hundred or five wickets for a bowler — it can turn games and if we can get a win at the MCG it would check the momentum.
“We were disappointed with the Test matches but we've got these one-dayers coming up so it's a new beginning for us.”
Collingwood admitted that England's standing at eighth in the
ICC’s one-day rankings were merited after a string of poor results, including the 5-0 whitewash by Sri Lanka on home soil last year.
“We've a few fresh faces in the side and hopefully we can get a good start and a few wins under our belt.
“We're eighth (in the rankings) but there's a belief we can get back up. This momentum change is a big thing. We still all believe we can be a force in the World Cup.”
New Zealand complete the tournament line-up with each team playing each other four times before a three-match final starting in Melbourne on Feb 9.—Reuters
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