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Vaughan expects tough test
England, June26: England captain Michael Vaughan has warned his team to expect a tough challenge from South Africa and Zimbabwe in the triangular one-day series.
England, June26: England captain Michael Vaughan has warned his team to expect a tough challenge from South Africa and Zimbabwe in the triangular one-day series.
The home side will be seeking their third trophy of the summer after winning both recent Tests against Zimbabwe and defeating Pakistan 2-1 in a one-day challenge series.
But Vaughan believes South Africa are the second best one-day side in the world, despite their failure to progress beyond the first phase of the World Cup.
"It will be a great challenge for us to face them," he said.
"For our young players to face the likes of Jacques Kallis and Shaun Pollock in front of a big crowd will be a great experience.
"They've got plenty of experience, plenty of flair and we'll really have to be on the ball to compete against them".
Vaughan also expects Zimbabwe to be more competitive in the shorter form of the game, even though batsman Stuart Carlisle has been ruled out with a broken thumb.
"We mustn't forget Zimbabwe.
"They will be a tough nut to crack and have some very experienced performers in their ranks, like Heath Streak and Grant Flower".
England begin the tournament with a game against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge on Thursday, and meet South Africa for the first time two days later at The Oval.
Vaughan insisted that the demands of captaincy had not affected his preparations as a batsman.
He made scores of 27, 10 and 29 against Pakistan and has not managed a single one-day hundred for England in 29 appearances.
"A lot has been written saying I haven't scored the runs, and I'm out of form, but I'm hitting the ball just as well as I did in the winter. I'm probably just not having the rub of the green", he said. "You do need that little bit of luck when you're batting. You ask any player who scores a hundred, they generally get dropped on 20 or 30, or they get away with a run out." He added: "Ask any of the lads, I've probably done more batting over the last week than I have done throughout my career as a one-day player. It's important I give my batting a lot of time. "Number three is a crucial position in one-day cricket and it's important that I score runs. The way to do that is to practice hard and just because I'm captain, I'll continue to do that".
Des Wilson is to become chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board's Marketing Advisory Committee. New Zealand-born Wilson is a former president of the Liberall party and vice-chairman of Sport England.
Bureau Report
England begin the tournament with a game against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge on Thursday, and meet South Africa for the first time two days later at The Oval.
Vaughan insisted that the demands of captaincy had not affected his preparations as a batsman.
He made scores of 27, 10 and 29 against Pakistan and has not managed a single one-day hundred for England in 29 appearances.
"A lot has been written saying I haven't scored the runs, and I'm out of form, but I'm hitting the ball just as well as I did in the winter. I'm probably just not having the rub of the green", he said. "You do need that little bit of luck when you're batting. You ask any player who scores a hundred, they generally get dropped on 20 or 30, or they get away with a run out." He added: "Ask any of the lads, I've probably done more batting over the last week than I have done throughout my career as a one-day player. It's important I give my batting a lot of time. "Number three is a crucial position in one-day cricket and it's important that I score runs. The way to do that is to practice hard and just because I'm captain, I'll continue to do that".
Des Wilson is to become chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board's Marketing Advisory Committee. New Zealand-born Wilson is a former president of the Liberall party and vice-chairman of Sport England.
Bureau Report