Wakely eyes World Cup glory

Alex Wakely © Getty Images

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England Under-19 captain Alex Wakely is confident his side can sweep all before them and return victorious from the World Cup in Kuala Lumpur.

England began their Group D campaign on Sunday in emphatic fashion with a 10-wicket win over Ireland and face Bermuda on Tuesday before a potential group-decider against Bangladesh on Friday.

Should they top their group or finish runners-up, England will enter the tournament’s Super League stage which consists of two knockout rounds before the final.

And Wakely is determined he can emulate Owais Shah’s achievement in lifting the trophy as the senior England batsman did in 1988.

The 19-year-old Northants batsman told ecb.co.uk: “Any team can say they want to win the World Cup and I think it’s something we can do.

“We’ve got a really strong side with lots of exciting young talent. It’s just a case of us making sure we’re on top of our game every game.

“The best teams in the world are the ones that play their ‘A game’ day-in-day-out and that’s what we’ve got to look to achieve.”

England set out their stall for the rest of the tournament against the Irish, who came within five runs of an upset against the same opponents in the 2006 competition in Colombo.

Steven Finn collects the match award against Ireland from ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed

Opening bowlers Steven Finn (3-21) and James Harris (3-40) made the most of helpful early conditions before openers Billy Godleman and James Taylor passes Ireland’s target of 109 in 15.5 overs.

Wakely recognises it is important to take the same attitude into all his side’s matches in Malaysia regardless of the opposition.

“We set a high benchmark from the start. Our main aim was to make sure other teams knew we really want to win this World Cup, rather than just messing around,” he added.

“We wanted to hammer the message home that we are one of the stronger teams to be reckoned with.

“It was one of those games where we turned up on the day and were the better team. As we learnt from the previous World Cup, when they came close to beating England, we had to be on the top of our form.

“With the new ball Steve Finn and James Harris were right on form and that set the tone from early on. We held our catches well and really didn’t let them get in the game. The opposition proved in the warm-up games that they are a good team and we beat them really well.

“We sat down the night before and agreed what we had to do, and pretty much everything we agreed we put into place when we played. So everyone was pretty high and pretty happy with what happened.

“We’re going to go in with same attitude tomorrow and the same attitude when we play Bangladesh in a couple of days.”

Hampshire's Liam Dawson is part of England's spin attack

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Wakely is uncertain what to expect from Bermuda but is concentrating on his side’s strength’s rather than any weaknesses the opposition may have.

“They’re one of these teams where anything could happen really. We’ve just got to do exactly the same thing. We’ve got to go in there with a clear mind and play to our strengths and, if we do that, I’m sure we will be the better side.

“We’re trying to be as professional as we can and as clinical as we can."

Many of the squad are familiar with Malaysian conditions having toured there with the Under-19s last year and Wakely feels they are adapting quickly to the challenges of the last month during the warm-up games in Sri Lanka and Kuala Lumpur.

He is hopeful the team can raise its game against tougher opposition as they progress through the tournament, pinpointing spinners Tom Westley and Liam Dawson, who were both economical against Ireland.

“We’ve seen from the Malaysian wickets this year that they’ve turned a lot more than when we came here last year," said Wakely.

“We’ve got Tom Westley and Liam Dawson and we’ve now got Dan Redfern as a back-up bowler. They’re excellent spinners, so we feel pretty confident in all departments really.

“It’s quite easy to look at it when everything’s going well for you. The times when it’s not going so well, maybe when the team’s gone for a few early on, then we’re going to see what the spinners are made of.”