Vaughan's mind on the job

Michael Vaughan is confident England can remain focused on the Kenya clash © Getty Images

Michael Vaughan is confident England can rise to the challenge of performing against Kenya despite their preparations being overshadowed by the shock news of Bob Woolmer’s murder.

Like the rest of the cricket world, England were stunned by the confirmation that Jamaican police were treating the death of the former England batsman and Pakistan coach as a murder inquiry.

It has shaken the team and, in particular, players like Ian Bell, who played a large part of his formative cricket under Woolmer at Warwickshire, and dominated their build-up to Saturday's crunch showdown in St Lucia.

But captain Vaughan will emphasise the need for his team to produce a performance which will earn the victory to carry them through to the last eight of the tournament for the first time since 1996.

“We’ll sit down and talk about what’s happened and we’ll have to get a feel for the mentality of the players - we’re going to have to be strong as players and go out there and produce a performance,” said Vaughan.

“I hope the World Cup goes on to be an unbelievable tournament with some great games and the best team wins, but I think everyone will always remember this World Cup for one incident, and rightfully so.

Andrew Flintoff has impressed Vaughan with his intensity at net sessions © Getty Images

“We must carry on as players and prepare for the game and we have to go out and put a performance in to make sure we go through to the Super Eight.”

One player Vaughan has no concerns about in the build up to the game is all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, who has shown a renewed determination to impress since being dropped for Sunday’s victory against Canada for his role in last weekend’s late night drinking exploits.

Flintoff has delivered consistently hostile spells with the ball in the nets ever since and has also impressed with the bat to leave Vaughan in no doubt about his desire.

“He’s practised hard and he looks in tremendous form,” enthused Vaughan. “He bowled pretty quick at me in the nets yesterday - as you would have expected - and he’s batting well.

“Hopefully he can take that kind of form into this game. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a man-of-the-match performance from Andrew Flintoff.”

Lancashire all-rounder Flintoff will reclaim his place but Ravi Bopara, who impressed as his replacement on Sunday, may retain his place and Jamie Dalrymple miss out.

Off-spinning all-rounder Dalrymple has struggled in the tournament, scoring only five runs in the opening two matches and conceded 50 runs in seven overs.