Saker: England can have a World Cup ball

DAVID SAKER is backing England’s bowlers to make a splash at this month’s Twenty20 World Cup in Australia, having worked closely with the side throughout the series against Pakistan.

Saker crossed the Ashes divide to mentor England’s seamers between 2010 and 2015 and has rejoined the white-ball team as a short-term consultant ahead of the tournament in his native Australia.

He has been working with the England team over the course of a back-and-forth series in Karachi and Lahore, with the score locked at 3-3 heading into today’s decider and believes they are well placed.

He said: ‘There was a little bit of talk that the options weren’t as broad as some other teams, but I’m pretty confident we’re in a really good space with our bowlers.

‘We’ve got left and right-arm options, we’ve got Mark Wood with a bit of pace and we’ve got spin options. At World Cups you need as many options as you can have and I’ve been really impressed by the guys out here.

‘You are looking for wickets as many times as you can. If you attack the top of the stumps you will get some movement at different times.

‘We’ve used our bouncer really well here and got some wickets with it. In Australia you can use your bouncer a bit more, get a lot more pace out of it. At times you might get hit further but it’s a good wicket option for us.’