Strauss set for England return
Andrew Strauss looks set to return to the England fold this weekend
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Friday, 06, Apr 2007 06:45
England batsman Andrew Strauss is expected to be given his first World Cup outing in the crucial clash with Australia on Sunday.
The experienced Middlesex man has been overlooked so far in the West Indies, with Irish-born Ed Joyce taking his place at the top of order.
But after a string of unconvincing performances were topped off by a duck against his native Ireland and ten runs from 21 balls against Sri Lanka, Joyce is now set to be dropped.
Strauss was left out after failing with the bat while on the tour of Australia this winter, but England skipper Michael Vaughan is confident that he will be refreshed after his time on the sidelines.
"Sometimes you are best when you haven't played for a while," Vaughan said.
"You are mentally very fresh. He has practised well and certainly if he plays on Sunday I don't have any qualms that he hasn't played cricket.
"He has played a lot of cricket over the last year or so and six weeks out of the game sometimes can do you the world of good."
England go into Sunday's clash with Australia knowing that anything other than a victory will make qualification from the Super Eight stage extremely difficult.
Wednesday's dramatic two-run defeat by Sri Lanka followed a carried-over loss against New Zealand and means England can barely afford another slip-up if they are to make the semi-finals.
"We have to make sure we regroup and gather all the positives - and there were a lot from that [Sri Lanka] game - for the Australia game," Vaughan added on Sky Sports News.
"We've had a good chat and the boys have practised well."
Ravi Bopara is set to retain his place in the side after an inspired 52 against Sri Lanka only narrowly failed to earn England the win they so desperately craved.