(REUTERS)-England skipper Andrew Strauss blamed fatigue and injury for his side’s recent 6-1 one-day series pasting by Australia and declared his team were still capable of winning their first 50-over World Cup England’s mood turned sour after their first successful Ashes Test tour in Australia for 24 years in January when the hosts then trounced them at the shorter version of the game.
Strauss, newly arrived in Dhaka ahead of Saturday’s World Cup opening in the sub-continent, said that the series reverse at the end of a long and exhausting Ashes could be discounted as a guide to England’s tournament hopes here.
“We’re here to win it. A six-one defeat is not ideal but we contracted five or six injuries and had only two or three weeks’ rest. Our condition will be different,” he said.
The World Cup tournament begins in Dhaka with an opening match between Bangladesh and India on Saturday. The event is to be jointly hosted by the two countries along with Sri Lanka.
Strauss picked India and Sri Lanka, rather than holders Australia, as England’s biggest threats in the challenging conditions of stifling heat and generally lifeless pitches of the sub continent.
“There are not many expectations on our shoulders. India and Sri Lanka have much more on their home grounds,” said the England skipper.
“But we have a solid squad, a settled side and our guys are confident after winning the Twenty20 (World) Championship.”
A team led by Paul Collingwood in the Caribbean won England’s first world title last year.
Despite a relatively under-achieving one-day series in Australia for him, Strauss said the absence through a broken finger of one of their key dangermen with the bat, Eoin Morgan, would be felt in the sub continent.
“It is very frustrating and disappointing for Morgan as he will miss this chance to showcase his skill.”
Ravi Bopara took his place in the squad.
England play their first World Cup match against the Netherlands, minnows in the sport, on February 22 in Nagpur. They have warm-up matches with Canada, another unfancied team, on Wednesday and then against Pakistan two days later in Dhaka.