THE GAME OF OUR LIVES

Plunkett tips England to be stronger after ‘wobble’ and fulfil the country’s dream

LIAM PLUNKETT says England are ready to cope with the pressure of World Cup expectation against Australia.

And the Aussies have been warned to exp ect a much stronger beast at Edgbaston than the one they met at Lord’s when England were having th eir mid-tournament “wobble”.

There is no escaping the fact that the Australians know how to get the job done at this stage of these tournaments, hav ing progressed from six out of six semi-finals before.

But, against an England team full of confidence and momentum from their mostrecent two wins and on a ground they love so much, paceman Plunkett said: “We’ve made it sort of exciting again and we’ve got people watching it.

“I played in teams where you didn’t expect to win and the public didn’t expect you to win.

“But this squad have brought a change and the public sort of expect us to win games now and win series.

“We’re a different sort of animal compared to our last teams. We deserve to be in the semi-final and give it our best shot and if you can go ahead and win this game and win the final, it’s huge for English cricket.

“The last tw o games we performed really well. We had a chat this morning and, even though I think we were pretty dominant in those games, we feel like we can step up another gear as well.

“I think we had a wobble at the right time, a bit of a blip, but, obviously, it’s made us stronger.”

It just so happens that Plunkett didn’t play in any of the three games England l o st in the tournament.

But he cemented his place after making an impact in successive wins against India and New Zealand. And he brings a no-nonsense attitude that reflects the team’s desire to play the game their way, ignoring noise from outside the camp.

It is a sentiment shared by team-mate Ben Stokes, who is adamant this World

Cup is the time for England to stick to their guns because they are still the best in business.

“This is our World Cup as players,” insisted Stokes.

“It’s a different team to those teams before us and we know how we want to play, it’s our team, we know what works and w e kn ow w hat make s us successful.

“We were not going to change on the back of a few disappointing results and we’re sticking to it.

“When our careers end, we’ll be able to look back and say we have played with the world’s best, got to No.1, but, more importantly, we played with a good bunch of people.

“I’m not sure many other teams would be able to say that, but I believe this team is the best at what they do – and we’re trying to build a path for many years to come. This is what England stand for and how we want to play.”

BATTING BOWLING