INDIA: CRICKET - Press conference by England coach Duncan Fletcher and Captain Andrew Flintoff on their arrival in New Delhi for the forthcoming Champions Trophy tournament

Record ID: 1374338

  • Title: INDIA: CRICKET - Press conference by England coach Duncan Fletcher and Captain Andrew Flintoff on their arrival in New Delhi for the forthcoming Champions Trophy tournament
  • Date: 8th October 2006
  • Summary: ANDREW FLINTOFF, ENGLAND'S CRICKET TEAM CAPTAIN AND DUNCAN FLETCHER, ENGLAND'S CRICKET TEAM COACH, AT A PRESS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ANDREW FLINTOFF, ENGLAND'S CRICKET TEAM CAPTAIN, SAYING: "The fitness has been good. I have not played much cricket in the last 13-14 weeks. It has been about ten and a half weeks after the operation on my ankle... it has responded well. I have bowled a couple of times, at about 60 per cent (of my best) in the nets at home. And coming out here, over the past few weeks I have been stepping it up... It is an opportunity to go outside, bowl in the nets, keep building it, building it, pushing it more and more. As for the challenge, it is going to be a good challenge. The group we are in has India and Australia and they are absolutely two fine sides. We are going to have the chance to play two of the top sides in the world. India is going to be tough, but it is going to be quite exciting I think."
  • Embargoed: 23rd October 2006 18:25
  • Keywords:
  • Location: India
  • Country: India
  • Topics: Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVAA85VRTXB48FPV87ZCW074QE6Y
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: English cricket captain Andrew Flintoff said on Saturday (October 7) he was raring to return to international cricket after a four month layoff due to an ankle injury.
    "The fitness has been good," he said at a news conference on his arrival in Indian capital New Delhi to play the 10-nation Champions Trophy. "I have not played much cricket in the last 13-14 weeks. It has been about ten and a half weeks after the operation on my ankle... it has responded well. I have bowled a couple of times, at about 60 per cent (of my best) in the nets at home. And coming out here, over the past few weeks I have been stepping it up... It is an opportunity to go outside, bowl in the nets, keep building it, building it, pushing it more and more."
    The inaugural match in which the West Indies take on Sri Lanka in a qualifier on Saturday, with England due to face India in their opener on October 15.
    Flintoff added that his team was focussed hard on the tournament, which he said posed serious challenge, brushing aside suggestions that the English were taking it as a warm-up tournament ahead of the much-hyped Ashes test series against Australia.
    "As for the challenge, it is going to be a good challenge. The group we are in has India and Australia and they are absolutely two fine sides. We are going to have the chance to play two of the top sides in the world. India is going to be tough, but it is going to be quite exciting I think," he said.
    England had a poor home one-day series this year -- a 2-2 draw against Pakistan which followed a humiliating 5-0 rout whitewash against Sri Lanka earlier in July.
    English coach Duncan Fletcher said the team had just had a bad summer, and that he was hopeful of a good showing from his young side.
    "We had a difficult summer with the one day game because we had a lot of those young players in there... and they showed the character they had got, because they were under enormous pressure. They were under pressure to perform under difficult circumstances and they showed they had the character to do it; and we also had some of those older players looking over their shoulders," he said.
    England are ranked eighth among the 11 official one day international teams.
    Teams ranked in the top six on April 1 -- Australia, South Africa, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and England -- were given automatic slots for the main round of the Champions Trophy, which starts on October 15.
    Of the rest, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, two will advance to the main round of the tournament after a preliminary round.
    All Champions Trophy games, day-night affairs, would start at 1430 hours local time (0900 GMT). The tournament runs from October 7 to November
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