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[cricket_news]

Cricket-England's surging self-belief ends long wait for title
16 May 2010, 9:57 pm



By Simon Evans

BRIDGETOWN, May 16 (Reuters) - England ended their 35-year

wait for a world title with victory over Australia in the

Twenty20 World Cup on Sunday thanks to a retuned playing style

and a surge in self-belief, skipper Paul Collingwood said.

Not only did England knock off Australia's total of 147 for

the loss of just three wickets, they did so with three full

overs remaining and not even a hint of the middle order

collapses that have plagued previous teams.

England had lost their four other world finals in the 50

over format -- three World Cups and a Champions Trophy -- and

Collingwood said the key to finally winning was self-confidence.

"I think belief has been a huge thing -- you can see from

the way the guys have gone out from first ball, believing in

themselves and taking it to the opposition and playing a brand

of cricket that is unlike England in the past," he said.

"I think a lot of credit goes to every single player in the

dressing room to have the confidence to go out there and really

give it there best shots and have no regrets.

"We thoroughly deserve the victory, because the way we've

played throughout the tournament has been consistent and we have

also been taking the game to the opposition.

"We've had a lot of belief, and the guys have thought very

well for themselves and made the right decisions. In the end,

we've turned up on a big occasion like this and we've

performed," he added.

Collingwood now hopes England's tendency to crack under the

pressure of big occasions is behind them.

"To be the first (English) team to win a World Cup is very

special," he said. "We knew it was a monkey on our back. We knew

what it meant and that is why I am so pleased that these last

two performances in such pressurised situations were absolutely

spot on."

(Editing by Kevin Fylan. To query or comment on this story

email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)



Source: Reuters: Cricket News