Colly talks up England chances

Paul Collingwood claims his side are relishing the challenge of coping with the conditions

Paul Collingwood is confident England’s emerging one-day side have the capabilities to rise to one of the biggest challenges of their careers in the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka.

No England team have won a series on this island and, of the eight completed one-day internationals between the two sides on Sri Lankan soil, England have won only one - in 1982.

But, despite having only one warm-up match - against a strong Sri Lankan Board XI on Friday - and being without key all-rounder Andrew Flintoff for the five-match series, Collingwood remains optimistic about England’s chances of causing an upset.

“We obviously realise they’re a very good side and when you come to Sri Lanka it’s very hot and conditions do favour the home side,” conceded Collingwood.

“But that to us is the exciting thing. When you’re playing professional cricket you want a challenge and this is certainly one of the biggest challenges you’ll come up against.

“If we can go home after a good series here it will be very satisfying. The lads in that dressing room have prepared very well over the last few days and in many ways it’s helped us get over here early to get ourselves acclimatised.

“We believe we have the skills to adapt to these conditions, we’re looking forward to it and we want to do well out here.”

Collingwood’s confidence seems misplaced against a Sri Lanka side who reached the World Cup final this year and have beaten England home and abroad in seven of their last eight one-day internationals.

Collingwood and opposite number Mahela Jayawardene

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That sequence includes the 5-0 thumping they gave England last summer, but Collingwood believes the current squad have the mental strength to compete on more equal terms even in sub-tropical conditions which will suit the hosts.

“At the time it was very disappointing to lose 5-0, but we’re a different side now with a different set-up and we have an opportunity now to come out here and reverse that,” said Collingwood.

“One thing you need out here as a set of players is belief and there is belief in our side that we can come over here and win.

“Sometimes you can come to places like Sri Lanka and Australia and you’re beaten before you even get out on the park. Certainly the mental side of it is a massive thing, but all the players in our squad believe we can win out here.”

England’s last 50-over one-day series resulted in a thrilling victory over India in home conditions, before they set out to South Africa and underperformed in the ICC World Twenty20.

But Collingwood is hopeful the confidence gained from beating India on home soil can help propel them when the series gets under way in Dambulla on Monday.

Kevin Pietersen is the latest player to complain of a virus

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“The squad we’ve got is exciting,” he insisted.

“We have a young bunch of guys here who are excited about coming to a country that is difficult to play cricket in - that’s a massive challenge for us and we’re looking forward to that.

“There are going to be times when you need to keep that intensity high but there will also be times when you need to preserve your energy.

“We’ll have to get that balance right or we’re going to get pretty tired pretty quickly.

“We still want to keep that intensity - the running between the wickets and the buzz in the field going - but there are limitations on everybody when you’ve got heat like this and we’ll try to be sensible.”

Collingwood is expected to feature in the warm-up match after recovering sufficiently from the stomach virus which has swept through the squad in recent days.

Though Collingwood has recovered, Stuart Broad, Luke Wright and Alastair Cook are still struggling while Kevin Pietersen has also joined the list of doubtful players.

If they recover they will face a Board XI side including eight players who have been capped at international level, including captain Avishka Gunawardene, seamer Nuwan Kulasekera and leg-spinner Malinga Bandara.