Wood ready to fell Bangladesh

Greg Wood © Getty Images

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Under-19 batsman Greg Wood cannot wait to face the World Cup big boys as England meet Bangladesh at Kuala Lumpur’s Royal Selangor Club on Friday.

Both sides have already booked a place in the Super League but the outcome of Group D’s final match could have a significant impact in their progress beyond the quarter-finals.

Two of three sides from Group B - second seeds India, South Africa and West Indies - await England and Bangladesh in the knockout stages depending on Friday’s results when India also face the Windies.

Yorkshire’s Wood, however, is more concerned about continuing England’s momentum - they beat Ireland and Bangladesh by 10 wickets in their opening two Group D matches - than worrying about possible quarter-final opponents.

He told ecb.co.uk: “We’re looking forward to it. We’ve just had the team meeting to close up all the details before the game. The team’s been playing well but it will be good to have a bit more of a test than the previous two games.

“No disrespect to Bermuda and Ireland but we’ve been able to play within ourselves a bit and get through those games very convincingly so we’re looking forward to a higher opposition and to play our cricket to the max - the way we like to play it - and test ourselves.

Greg Wood remains confident England can go all the way in Kuala Lumpur © Getty Images

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“We’re already through to the quarters so it’s not a big game in that respect but momentum is key and winning is definitely a habit and if we stay in that habit it will serve us well later on. We just want to keep going, keep playing the way we’re playing and just racking up the wins.

“If you’re going to win the World Cup you’ve got to beat every team in there. Whoever we end up playing in the quarter-final we’ll back ourselves to beat and then move on to the semi-final.”

England’s crushing opening wins have meant Wood is yet to bat in the competition but the 19-year-old remains confident the three-week trip to Sri Lanka was perfect preparation for the challenges ahead.

Wood, who captained the under-19s in Malaysia a year ago, is also familiar with the Bangladeshis having toured there in late 2005 and expects to continue the winning run.

“We had the tour to Sri Lanka so we’re not short of match practice, we had a good three and a half weeks there. We’ve had good net sessions, lots of training and we’ve been playing well so you can’t complain. If we win every game by 10 wickets and I don’t have a bat all tournament I’ll be happy with that,” he added.

“I played against them two years ago when I went on an under-19s tour and they had a good side then but I think this team might have a few missing on full international duty. We’ve had a look at some footage that our analyst's put together but we’ve got to make sure that we play our game well and, if we do that, I’m sure we’ll beat every team.

“We’re on a high really. The boys are all playing well with no injuries. Everyone’s fit and raring to go. We know we can produce a standard of cricket to win the World Cup but it’s just a matter of producing that day in, day out. We’re looking forward to doing that really.”