With the tournament starting in South Africa tomorrow, I talked to former England bowler and Sky Sports commentator Bob Willis about the tournament.
Bob, I won’t insult your intelligence by asking whether England can win the tournament but can they at least get out of a group containing Sri Lanka, South Africa and New Zealand?
Well if they were a race horse the form guide would say no chance at all – they’d be 20/1 outsiders. Really, I don’t see England getting to the knockout stages. Just look at the other teams. South Africa are hosts and the No.1 side in the world, Australia are coming off this series win in England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are always dangerous, New Zealand can perform in one-day cricket. I really don’t see much chance for England.
What’s gone wrong for England in 50-over cricket?
They simply have not been any good at it since 1992. Adam Hollioake’s side won a tournament in Sharjah in the 1990s and Michael Vaughan led his side to the Champions Trophy final in this country in 2004 but other than that England have been woeful in this format.
Can they do anything to make themselves more competitive for the Champions Trophy?
What they should do is change personnel – Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell for Owais Shah and Ravi Bopara. But that’s not going to happen before the Champions Trophy because the ICC won’t let them make changes to their squad other than for injuries. Hopefully Paul Collingwood and James Anderson will be fresh when they return but Andrew Strauss has his hands tied now in terms of the players he has to work with.
So who are your favourites to win it then Bob?
South Africa are the standout and India and Pakistan have shown they can spring a surprise in the World Twenty20. But the conditions in South Africa I would think would favour seam bowling and because Australia and South Africa have the best seam bowlers they are the clear favourites in my view. You can never underestimate the sub-continental sides. I mentioned two already and Sri Lanka have some excellent spinners but I don’t think their seam attack is good enough to win.
Which players are you most looking forward to watching in South Africa?
Individually the Indians Yuvraj Singh and [Mahendra Singh] Dhoni. Pakistan always seem to produce players and Umar Gul seems to be a bowler who specialises in bowling economically in limited-overs cricket. Then there’s the Australians – Brett Lee, Ricky Ponting, Mitchell Johnson. They are the holders and always perform well in tournaments.
Where do you think this tournament now fits in alongside the World Twenty20 and 50-over World Cup?
The fact it is a short, sharp tournament with no travelling once you are there is good and there is prize money of $4million means I think people are taking it seriously. If we look at the last three World Cups they have been appalling. The ICC are trying to globalise the game so you get too many games and too many mismatches. This tournament sees the top eight teams in the world play each other and it’s over in two weeks.
Bob Willis is commentating for Sky Sports during its exclusively live coverage of the ICC Champions Trophy