Graveney eyes Sixes success

Team manager David Graveney is hoping to guide England to a hat-trick of wins in the Hong Kong Sixes at the weekend.

England have won the competition for the last two years and will be widely fancied to retain their crown after naming an experienced squad.

Robert Croft captains a seven-man squad which also contains Dominic Cork, Alex Wharf, Kabir Ali, Darren Maddy, Dimitri Mascarenhas and Chris Read.

© Getty Images

Graveney (left) is keen for the recent success to continue and believes the competition will prove a useful challenge for several England players.

He told ecb.co.uk: “We’ve done reasonably well in the four years that I’ve been involved in it, finishing fourth, second, first and first. There are strong teams going this time with Australia and West Indies both sending a team so it should be interesting.

“Our squad is full of good players who have played international cricket and some who are knocking on the door of the one-day team. It’s an enjoyable weekend but good performances in this will stand them in good stead.

“We’re looking forward to it and having a bit of a practice at Loughborough before we go. The tournament has never been affected by the weather and hopefully that won’t happen this time. It’s slightly earlier this time but we’ll have to play well whatever happens.

“It’s fortunate to a degree that we’re starting against Hong Kong but that’s an interesting twist because Phil DeFreitas is their coach.”

Robert Croft is captain of the England squad © Getty Images

Ex-England international DeFreitas retired from first class cricket in 2005 and will be up against several of his former team-mates. One of those is Leicestershire batsman Maddy, who helped his county win the Twenty20 Cup in 2004.

That short format of the game could help England adapt to the six-a-side competition, in which games are played in five-over innings, with each team member, other than the wicket-keeper, bowling one over.

{error}The action will come thick and fast and Graveney admitted: “You can win or lose the game in one over.

“When batting it’s about making sure you don’t miss the ball too often and picking your scoring areas. The bowlers have to mix it up and it’s a test of character.

“I think Twenty20 cricket and six-a-side are all forms of the game that people will have played during their amateur careers. Our big advantage is that our season has finished whereas most of the other teams are just starting.

“Pakistan are normally our biggest rivals but everyone can beat each other on their day so we just have to play well.”