Collingwood delivers upbeat assessment
New captain Paul Collingwood is confident England have a squad capable of competing at the Twenty20 World Cup later this year despite Thursday's thrilling defeat to West Indies.
England's 15-run loss at The Oval, chasing the tourists' formidable total of 208 for eight in Collingwood's first match as captain, exposed old weaknesses in their one-day capabilities.
But Durham all-rounder Collingwood said: "I am confident we can adapt our game to Twenty20 cricket and these experiences will make us stronger in the end."
Collingwood has great belief in the new-look 14-man squad and its potential to challenge at the Twenty20 World Championship in September despite the selectors' decision to leave out several county players regarded as specialists in the discipline.
Warwickshire's Darren Maddy and Lancashire's Mal Loye have both prospered in the short format and were overlooked for this squad, but Collingwood stressed: "I don't think we should get too carried away - we've played one game and we weren't too far off winning it in the end.
"There are 14 guys in that dressing room who are the best one-day cricketers in this country at this present time."
But for Collingwood's brilliant 80 off 41 balls, England would have suffered a humiliating defeat having slipped to 101 for six in the 13th over of their reply.
His 91-run partnership off only 43 balls with Michael Yardy took the game to an exciting conclusion, however, and gives England hope they can prosper in Friday's second and Twenty20 match against the tourists.
