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LONDON.
England may have won the Ashes and triumphed at the 2010 World Twenty20 but even their fans may think twice about backing them to win the Cricket World Cup after an injury-hit finale to their tour of Australia.
Not only did they lose a seven-match one-day series 6-1, bad enough in itself, they also ended the tour with injury worries regarding six members of their 15-man squad. The most concerning was to left-handed bats-man Eoin Morgan, who already in his relatively brief England career has more than once demonstrated the happy knack of being able to pace a run chase with a mixture of conventional strokeplay and quirky reverse hits. But the former Ireland international is now in danger of missing the World Cup completely after fracturing a finger in the fourth one-dayer against Australia. Veteran all-rounder Paul Collingwood (back spasm), Yorkshire seamers Ajmal Shahzad (hamstring) and Tim Bresnan (calf), key off-spinner Graeme Swann (back/ knee) and pace bowler Stuart Broad (abdominal strain) also had their tour of Australia cut short by injury.
“We’re pretty confident the other guys are going to be fit, but Eoin Morgan we are not sure of at this stage,” said England captain Strauss of his Middlesex team-mate. — AFP.