Flower confident despite Colly dilemma

Coach Andy Flower is confident England have the personnel to carry them out for the third Test against South Africa without Paul Collingwood.
Middle-order batsman Collingwood is rated only "50-50" to be fit to face South Africa at Newlands, and his absence would almost certainly mean a debut for either Michael Carberry or Luke Wright.

A final fitness test tomorrow will decide whether Collingwood takes the field on Sunday in a series England lead 1-0 with two to play after their innings victory in Durban.

Flower made it clear that - specifically in Carberry, called up as specialist batting cover when Collingwood dislocated his left index finger at Kingsmead - he has supreme confidence.

Collingwood is in perhaps the best form of his life in all formats, but Flower appears unfazed by the prospect of having to get by without him in such a crucial Test.

"If he goes out, we'll lose some of that experience," he concedes.

"But you gain in another way if the debutant comes in and kicks off his international career.

"We're not worried. If he can't play, he can't play - we'll get on with it."

Left-hander Carberry, used to playing higher up the order in county cricket than Collingwood's Test number five slot, had a prolific 2009 season for Hampshire - and has impressed Flower so far in the Newlands nets.

There are also no regrets about having no existing batting cover in the tour squad, and therefore having to fly Carberry back to South Africa from England at short notice.

"We made that decision in the knowledge that if a specialist batsman got injured, we'd have to pull someone out of the performance squad that has been training in South Africa and has gone back to England only very recently," Flower explained.

"Carberry is in good form. He's been scoring runs out here in South Africa, so we're quite comfortable with that situation.

"Michael Carberry coming in is like any debutant. He'll be excited and nervous but certainly looking forward to the opportunity.

"The way he batted in the nets this morning, I'd feel very confident when he strode out to the middle."

If 29-year-old Carberry was not already optimistic of a debut, the vibes from Flower indicate he should be.

Wright should not despair, though - because the coach added: "The all-rounder option is always there, has been for the first two Tests and is again for this one."

Whoever faces South Africa in a Test which could result in England wrapping up a series victory, Flower is wary of the hosts' outstanding track record at Newlands.

"It's a challenge for all our players to take on South Africa here," he said.

"They've got a very good record here - they've won 14 out of the last 18 Test matches - and I'm sure they'll feel confident coming back here."

In fact, only Australia have beaten South Africa at this ground in the modern era - and England have lost in each of their three attempts.

Their innings victory in Durban, however, means they arrive this time with enviable confidence.

Reflecting on the Kingsmead success, Flower is hugely heartened - but still mindful England's job is just half done.

"All round, it was a great performance from our side," he agreed.

"We're one up - a great position to be in - but we're only halfway through a Test series.

"That means there's a lot of hard work to do in this Cape Town Test. But I know that our guys are looking forward to the challenge of taking South Africa on here.

"We're in the lead now, so the challenge for us is to actually improve on our performance from the last Test.

"I'm not talking specifically about the margins. But I am talking about our attitude, our work ethic and how we approach this battle."

South Africa have tougher questions to answer - namely whether to change a losing side, and the feasibility of keeping faith with out-of-form veteran pace bowler Makhaya Ntini.

Middle-order batsman JP Duminy is another whose place could be under threat, and coach Mickey Arthur today hinted there is likely to be at least one change to captain Graeme Smith's team.

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Colly confident KP will find form

England's most in-form batsman Paul Collingwood is confident it is only a matter of time before Kevin Pietersen starts making big runs again too.

Collingwood, who last week marked his record 171st one-day international cap with an unbeaten hundred at Centurion and added another 86 in a losing cause at Newlands yesterday, has already seen plenty of evidence that the "old KP" is on his way back.
Pietersen shared a fourth-wicket stand of 84 with Collingwood last night as England lost by 112 runs to allow South Africa to level the series at 1-1 with two to play, starting at St George's tomorrow.

By the mercurial South Africa-born batsman's standards, his 45 was an understated performance.

But Collingwood points out it would be entirely unreasonable to expect Pietersen to be instantly back to his destructive best in only a handful of innings so far since four months out after Achilles surgery.

"I wouldn't start putting him under any kind of pressure," he said.

"If you think of the lay-off he's had I don't think you'd expect him to come in and score hundreds straight away."

Even so Collingwood, who has often largely stood and admired Pietersen's world-beating strokeplay from 22 yards during previous partnerships, saw enough in Cape Town to conclude his team-mate is close to hitting top form.

"It's fair to say that there are some of the shots he's playing, with the old Kevin Pietersen there," he added.

"It's not going to be too long before he's making a massive contribution, just like he used to.

"He's not going to hit his straps 100% straight away. But he's certainly showing signs that he's got a big innings round the corner.

"As soon as he makes that big innings, the old flamboyant KP will be back - because he's certainly not far away."

Even before the big runs flow, Collingwood sees the mere presence of Pietersen as a major asset for England.

"It's just great to see him back on the pitch, running around fine - with that energy back," he reported.

"You can do as much training as you want in the nets, but the centre is where it counts.

"So far, he's looked pretty solid without having that major innings. But he's that kind of world-class player who will be clicking soon.

"Just having his presence in the batting line-up is the crucial thing.

"No opponents want to bowl against KP. It gives the rest of the lads a lot of confidence."

England have already drawn a Twenty20 series against their hosts this autumn, eliminated them from the Champions Trophy back in September and are now in a tough battle for this ODI series.

"So far, it's been a little bit of a rollercoaster ride, in terms of results and performances," Collingwood said.

"It's been an up-and-down tour.
"But a lot of credit goes to South Africa and the way they bounced back last night.
"Right from ball one, their intent was very good and obviously put us under a lot of pressure.

"But we're not going to get it right all the time."
Collingwood is banking on it being England's turn to fight back.
"We hope in new conditions in Port Elizabeth we can adjust to them and play the better cricket again tomorrow," he said.

As for his own outstanding run of consistency, the Durham batsman insists he is doing little different - merely trying hard, as he always has.

South Africa have admitted they are having to reassess Collingwood's capabilities, and he admits: "It's nice when the opposition are looking at you like that.
"Obviously, I feel in very good form at the moment - seeing the ball well.
"I'm enjoying the wickets out here, I gained a lot of confidence from playing in the Champions Trophy on faster and bouncier wickets.

"I've been working on my game over the years - trying to improve - and I'm just starting to see some of those benefits.

"Confidence is high, and it's amazing what you can do when confidence is that high.
"I'm not doing anything that different. I'm probably striking the ball a little bit harder than I used to and I've opened a couple more areas out technically."


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Collingwood plays down injury list

Paul Collingwood has played down England's growing injury list ahead of the first Twenty20 international on Friday following the side's four-wicket defeat against South Africa A in Bloemfontein.

England went into the match without their three frontline quicks with James Anderson (knee), Stuart Broad (shoulder) and Graham Onions (back) all on the sidelines. With Andrew Strauss not considered for the Twenty20 team it left Collingwood only 11 fit players and towards the end of the game Graeme Swann also left the field with a tight thigh.

However, Swann's problem was said to be minor and the medical staff were not overly concerned, while Anderson and Onions are expected to be in contention to face South Africa at the Wanderers. Broad, though, is struggling to recover in time for the Twenty20 matches and is unlikely to be risked before the one-day series begins at the end of next week.

"I think he [Broad] is going to be doubtful. I mean it's pretty much going to take a miracle if he's going to be fit for the Twenty20s," Collingwood told reporters. "He has been very sore on the shoulder there, but he's progressing well, so hopefully he'll be available for the first one-dayer.

"Jimmy's just a little bit stiff in the right knee, but again he should be fit for Friday and Graham Onions will come back into the reckoning as well. [Swann] came off with a stiff side, but he's spoken to the medical staff and they don't seem to be too concerned."

After a promising opening to the tour, with two convincing warm-up victories against the Eagles and Warriors, this is a more familiar feel to England's overseas expeditions with defeat against a second-string side and a list of injury worries. At the same time South Africa were hitting their stride against Zimbabwe, but Collingwood has his fingers crossed that the team have got their bad performance out of the way.

"I'm hoping tonight is just a blip. We've done a lot of good stuff so far on this tour," he said. "Obviously Twenty20 cricket's a different format of the game - you're a bit more rushed out in the middle. We'll obviously come out of this, we'll learn from it, we'll discuss it before Friday and hopefully put on a better performance.

"I never like losing, but I think sometimes it is going to be a little bit of a reality check as well. Tonight we got one of the disciplines wrong. That's the area we've got to bounce back from and do better on Friday."

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