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England’s top One-Day International wicket-taker and appearance maker Clare Taylor says she still has lots to offer, even at the age of 37

Matthew Appleby25-Dec-2009England’s top One-Day International wicket-taker and appearance maker Clare Taylor says she still has lots to offer, even at the age of 37.At the top of England’s batting averages, which “possibly puts our tournament into perspective,” tail-ender Taylor, the oldest player at Lincoln, still opens England’s bowling 14 years after her debut.In New Zealand since November, the medium-paced seamer hopes to emigrate after completing a year’s teacher-training course beginning in September. She has an honorary MA from Hull University and a degree in Geography.”I quite like the lifestyle and the people are absolutely brilliant. That’s the long-term plan after cricket.”Not that she plans to retire soon.”At 37 I don’t really think I should still be playing a part in the team, some of the youngsters have really got to take it by the scruff of the neck and say ‘I want your place, I’m good enough, I want your place and I’m going to take it’. It’s great for me, but I feel for the state of the English game that the youngsters need to take it on a bit more and say I want your place rather for me to say I’ll call it a day.”Opening the batting for Otago, Taylor is topping the averages.”It’s just good to be out here in the middle getting bat on ball rather than in the nets in snow-bound Huddersfield.”The “usual suspects” have performed in the tournament, though England’s squad has been together for two years since the World Cup, “its perhaps a little frustrating that we haven’t really gone on.”Taylor, who gave up working for the Royal Mail after 14 years to play for Otago and England in 2002/03, she said she’s not going to be playing cricket for too much longer, but still played a key role in the World Series of Women’s Cricket this January and February at Lincoln, and is set to lead England’s attack in two Tests against Australia later this month.”If we come off the back of this tournament with two good wins under our belts (against India) it will lift the girls, especially the batters and make them feel that they can do it.”I think all we’re looking for is belief. The Kiwis have got it and the Aussies have got it in abundance and I think that’s all we’re lacking – we’re not lacking in talent, it’s turning that talent into runs out on the pitch in the big games, rather than just against lesser teams.”With Australia the pre-eminent team in cricket, Taylor is realistic about the task ahead. She is one of the usual suspects who have performed at Lincoln, along with Australia’s Belinda Clark, Karen Rolton and the pacy 100-wicket woman Cathryn Fitzpatrick.”You can imagine Fitzy coming steaming in and trying allsorts, but we’re going to stand solid and see what happens.”Taylor has some of the Australian self-belief, something many of her England colleagues clearly lack.”If I could bottle it, it would be worth a bloody fortune. Week in week out I’ve been training with them and I don’t know what it is, perhaps a psychologist could help. I don’t know whether it’s the British mentality.”An analogy I made it was like the British are driving along and the car goes below a quarter of a tank they panic.”We don’t want to run out of petrol, we’re very conservative, while the Aussies and the Kiwis will probably drive a car until it runs out of petrol, ‘she’ll be right mate, you know, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.’ In fact, I asked most of the girls if they’d ever run out of petrol and they said no.”Erring on the side of caution, it’s the British mentality, whereas the Aussies and Kiwis are more laid-back in their lifestyles and more laid back in their cricket and that’s how they get their results. Perhaps we’re a bit in fear of failure.”I find it a bit strange that in the nets everyone bats really well and goes for their shots and don’t seem to have any inhibitions. It seems when we go out into the middle we perhaps go into our shells a little bit.”She said England’s top 48-player Super Fours tournament is giving the game a boost in quality, “because it’s a big leap from county to international level.”I don’t think we’ve gone backwards, because the guy we’ve got on board now, John Harmer, he’s the top guy, he’s guided the Aussies too, I just love listening to him, hang on his every word, because he makes it all sound so simple.”While Taylor has had to work throughout her career until this season, many of the England players have started to make a living from the game.”The money’s there. The ECB’s been backing us to the hilt and a lot of the girls have got lottery funding as well, so financially there’s no constraints to how much training and practice you can do and with John, you’ve got the guy who’s top of the shop in his field. So you’ve got to look at the individual players and it comes back to self-belief.”Starting playing aged 23, Taylor was inspired by Ian Botham’s mentality. She has starred in Yorkshire’s phenomenal 11 wins out of 12 in the County Championship. Known as Romper, Taylor is now an MBE for services to cricket.She made her ODI debut in the 1988/89 World Cup in Australia and was second top wicket taker in the 2000/01 tournament in New Zealand.Taylor has played 90 ODIs for England at this stage of the World Series and is the first English player to approach 100 wickets.A former soccer player, Taylor, from Huddersfield, became a Sport England sporting ambassador in 1998, promoting healthy lifestyles among the young.”You’ve got to give it your best shot, you can’t go in half-hearted. You’ve got to have the belief you can do it and perhaps if a few more of us have that Botham mentality then we’ll be fine.”

As per Football Insider, there has been a rather exciting update on Tottenham Hotspur’s transfer plans ahead of January.

The Lowdown: Conte’s first transfer window looms…

There is just over a month until the mid-season window opens for business and all eyes will be on new Spurs boss Antonio Conte and how he will begin to reshape his current squad.

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After their humbling 2-1 defeat in the Europa Conference League to Slovenian minnows NS Mura, the Italian head coach sent a stern message to his players and admitted that he’s making ‘evaluations’ on the squad (Daily Mirror).

As well as outgoings, Tottenham have been tipped to strengthen, and Serie A looks like itcould be a profitable source of incoming quality for Conte, according to claims from the continent (Calciomercato).

Netherlands duo Stefan de Vrij and Matthijs de Ligt have been repeatedly linked with moves to north London and Football Insider now bring news on what the 52-year-old could do in the New Year.

The Latest: Conte plotting sensational double move…

As per their information, Tottenham’s manager has personally identified both defenders as top targets ahead of January and is now plotting to sign the pair, who he believes are ‘world class’.

De Vrij in particular has been earmarked as his possible ‘lieutenant’ at the north London club as transfer chief Fabio Paratici backs Conte’s call to make landing the defensive duo a priority.

The Verdict: Big claim…

If Spurs are going to pull off this double swoop mid-season, it will take all of Paratici’s negotiation skills and Conte’s pulling power to make it happen.

Valued at £40m by Inter Milan, De Vrij is a key player for the Nerazzurri, with his contract not expiring until 2023 – potentially meaning that the Serie A giants are in no rush to offload him.

Meanwhile, De Ligt’s deal at Juventus runs all the way through to 2024 and his estimated £63m valuation by Transfermarkt means that Spurs would potentially need to smash their transfer record.

After Tottenham recorded an £80.2m pre-tax loss for the last financial year, taking their overall club debt to £706m in total (The Guardian), completing these moves would certainly be a statement of intent by the club.

Both players could well strengthen the Lilywhites’ defence but whether or not Spurs can actually get it done is another matter entirely.

In other news: Eight players now safe from Spurs axe after wowing Conte behind the scenes, find out more here.

Pakistan’s sports minister Ijaz Jhakrani has asked the Indian government to start an inquiry into why not a single player was bid for in the IPL 3 auction on January 19

Cricinfo staff27-Jan-2010After suggesting that the Pakistan cricketers boycott this year’s Champions League Twenty20 and the 2011 edition of the IPL, the country’s sports minister Ijaz Jhakrani has asked the Indian government to start an inquiry into why not a single Pakistan player was bid for in the IPL auction on January 19.”We want the government of India to intervene in this issue and let us know who was responsible in keeping Pakistan cricketers away from the IPL,” Jhakrani told AP. “From day one our stance is that the IPL decision was an influenced one.”The eight IPL franchises did not consider buying anyone from Pakistan because they were uncertain of their availability, despite all 11 players obtaining the necessary clearances from their government and the Pakistan Cricket Board. India’s home minister P Chidambaram sympathised with the players, saying their non-selection was a disservice to cricket. Shah Rukh Khan, the co-owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders, said their exclusion was humiliating.”His [Chidambaram’s] statement is a positive sign and it vindicates our stance, and I would appreciate if the government of India interferes in this [IPL] issue,” Jhakrani said. “Their statements make it crystal clear that there was involvement of a third player in influencing the IPL auction.”Both the Indian government and the BCCI were quick to distance themselves from the results of the auction after Pakistan players reacted with anger. Jhakrani had also complained to his Indian counterpart and the PCB raised the issue with the ICC. There were calls for the Pakistan hockey team to pull out of next month’s World Cup in India, and a parliamentary committee canceled a trip to India in protest. Jhakrani added that a Pakistan golf team’s tour of India had also been put on hold.

Discretion has never been a quality associated with Harbhajan Singh, and after the euphoria of helping India to a series-levelling innings win came the outpouring of anger

S Aga18-Feb-2010Discretion has never been a quality associated with Harbhajan Singh and, after the euphoria of helping India to a series-levelling innings win came the outpouring of anger. Having sprinted more than halfway to the boundary to make his point to the media gallery, he didn’t mince words at the press conference that followed.”I have been hearing a lot of things from them [the media], but today they were on the receiving end,” he said in response to an unrelated question. “They should be getting that kind of treatment because they should know what to play on national television and what not to play. We play for our country with a lot of passion and it disappoints all the players sometimes to see what characters they make out of us. If I don’t do well on the ground they will show us as (a Bollywood flick). Harbhajan is one of the idiots, MS Dhoni is the other. That is not right. I know it sounds funny but it is not.”It’s a shame and it should not be done. But if that is the way you want to sell your programmes, we are not worried about that. I was there for a bigger purpose. I was playing for my country, which means more than anything else for me. I won a game for my country and that is a special feeling.”The last 12 months have presented Harbhajan with a new challenge. Anil Kumble is no longer around to wheel away metronomically at the other end and, with neither Amit Mishra nor Pragyan Ojha established as India’s second slow bowler, the onus has been on Harbhajan to deliver. Against South Africa at Eden Gardens on Thursday, that responsibility was increased by the thigh strain that prevented Zaheer Khan from even taking the field.”Zaheer was definitely missed in the second innings,” said Harbhajan. “I think all three bowlers and Sehwag also, the fourth bowler, we have taken the pressure, we have taken the responsibility. We knew that we were one guy short and we had to do it with whatever resources we had.”I think Zaheer has been fantastic in the last three or four series. We have got the unit, we have got young bowlers, talented bowlers and we need to help them. As for myself, I need to work hard in the nets and keep on getting better and fitter so I can perform well in the future.”There was praise too for Mishra, whose every step is dogged by the shadow of Kumble. “Those are big shoes to fill,” he said. “Anil was fantastic from the other end and Mishra is still very new and young in international cricket. He is learning everyday but he bowled well in the second innings and even in the first innings. He is improving with every game and I am sure he will play for India for a long time.”As for him, the love affair with Eden Gardens remains a passionate one. “Every player has his own special ground. Anil always enjoyed bowling in Delhi and I always enjoyed bowling at the Eden Gardens because I have always done well here.”The crowd was fantastic. Eden has always been special. I have not heard this kind of noise anywhere in India. In Test matches, we don’t even get crowds but Eden is probably the best ground as you get the crowds for the whole five days. It does not matter whether India is batting or bowling, so it’s fantastic.”

I wish we had won the toss in Nagpur. Things might have been different. We played better cricket here and we set our fields, bowled according to the fields and we created pressure. We have learnt that if we fight till the end, we will do special things

Despite widespread criticism of his performance in Nagpur, Harbhajan insisted he had changed very little for this match. “The whole game I have been just been very relaxed and I knew that if I bowled in the right areas then I would create the opportunities to get batsmen out. I was very focused and I knew what I was doing. I knew my plans and we got it right. I wanted to pitch the ball up and I wanted to get him [Morkel] leg before wicket or bat-pad at silly point or in the slips, so there were a lot of options. That is what I was trying to do by keeping things simple.”Having snatched victory at the last, there was appreciation too for Hashim Amla’s lionhearted display. “Obviously Amla batted very well,” he said. “Most of the teams when they come here, they don’t know much about the spin, whether it is turning, bouncing or keeping low from the wicket. But he was very calm throughout his batting and that was probably the key. He kept on playing his style of cricket, he never took any chances, he never looked to do something fancy, he just played cricketing shots. I think he was the best batsman in the South African batting line-up.”In the build-up to this game, media reports referred to Harbhajan seeking advice from Kumble, but having bowled through the pain barrier – “I was in a lot of pain today. My shin was hurting but I tried to bowl the way I can do” – he scotched such speculation. “Anil Kumble will probably always be the one who will call me and tell me that there is nothing wrong with you. It’s just that you guys [media] have been creating sensational stories and calling Kumble to ask what is wrong with Harbhajan.”He just told me to be the way you are and you will bowl well. ‘You have taken 300-plus wickets and it doesn’t come through fluke. You know what you can do and I have played so much with you. You just have to be confident and it is just a matter of time before you will get thewickets’. He was pretty much right. I would like to give him big thanks for the advice and even on the field settings for batsmen like Jacques Kallis.”In Harbhajan’s eyes, the drawn series was a fair reflection of nine days that saw some exceptional cricket played. “To be honest, South Africa are a really good side and they played fantastic cricket in Nagpur. I wish we had won the toss in Nagpur. Things might have been different. We played better cricket here and we set our fields, bowled according to the fields and we created pressure. We batted well – Laxman was special, Dhoni was brilliant, Sachin was amazing and so was Viru. I think overall we played terrific cricket and we are very happy.”We have learnt that if we fight till the end, we will do special things. Everyone was up for the fight and we knew that it was an important game for all of us. There has been a lot of talk about us that it was a fluke to be the number-one side and all that. It was not a fluke at all. We have worked really hard to reach the top and today we have shown the world that we deserve to be number one. I hope now you guys will put some positive stories about it.”

Wolverhampton Wanderers were incredibly close to securing a loan deal for Renato Sanches in the summer, and continue to be connected with the Lille midfielder going into the January transfer window.

The Ligue 1 side and Wolves could not come to an agreement to sign the player on a temporary basis with the two clubs ending talks on deadline day, but Bruno Lage is reportedly keen to reignite interest to bring the Portuguese player to the Premier League.

The 24-year-old has been turning heads with a number of clubs taking an interest in the Portuguese midfielder, including Liverpool and Arsenal, which could cause hiccups for Wolves and Lage’s chances of securing a deal, especially if the two clubs were to pursue rumoured interest.

According to Birmingham Live, Wolves have been given the green light to go back in for the Portugal international, along with the other clubs who have been linked.

The £27m-rated gem was hailed by Monaco manager, Niko Kovac, when he coached Sanches at Bayern Munich, earning quite the review:

“Renato has an exceptionally good technique, very good speed and a great body,” he said.

Lage revealed his plans for the winter last week and by securing a deal for the Lille dynamo, the Wolves boss could live up to his promise.

He commented: “I just want top players and when I say top players, it’s not about how much they cost, it’s about the mentality they have.”

And in Sanches, he’d certainly find a player with an elite mentality, somebody capable of taking this Wolves team to the next level.

The box to box midfielder was integral to Lille’s league title win last season, beating Paris Saint Germain to the top spot for the first time in a decade. He is well established and proven in his role with the ability to play under pressure and adapt, after playing for two of the biggest European clubs, Bayern Munich and Benfica, winning multiple trophies, and completing 32 appearances for the Portugal international side too.

Lage could definitely use a player of Sanches’ varied experience and youth in a midfield, especially with Moutinho now 35 years old, he would be the perfect addition to add depth and quality to the centre of the pitch for Wolves.

Whether the Molineux outfit can strike a deal with Lille remains to be seen, and with other Premier League clubs now taking a shine to the midfielder, they will need to make him an offer he cannot refuse, which will likely include consistent first-team football. Either way, he’s certainly a player that can help Lage fulfil his promise in the winter market.

In other news: Lage could save millions by unleashing Silva

Ottis Gibson, the West Indies coach, has clarified that Ramnaresh Sarwan’s exclusion from the side was to give him more time to recover fully from his injury, in time for tougher assignments

Cricinfo staff09-Mar-2010Ottis Gibson, the West Indies coach, has said that Ramnaresh Sarwan’s exclusion from the squad for the home series against Zimbabwe was to give him more time to recover fully from his injury, so that he could be ready for tougher assignments.”Ramnaresh Sarwan is very important to the team. He was with us in Guyana and seeing him around was very good. He had a serious injury with his back,” Gibson said.Sarwan was overlooked for the last three ODIs against Zimbabwe despite returning to first-class cricket and featuring in the Regional four-day competition. His omission raised several eyebrows especially after he made a century for Guyana last week, a knock that signaled a return to some level of fitness.”At the moment he could benefit from some more time to get fully ready. I don’t want to rush him back too soon. The last thing we want would be to rush him back and lose him for the long-term. It is a precaution to allow him to get 100% ready for the major international assignments we have later this year,” Gibson said.West Indies’s upcoming schedule includes the ICC World Twenty20 and a three-Test, five-ODI home series against South Africa later this year.The last three ODIs against Zimbabwe will be played at the Arnos Vale Stadium in St. Vincent, starting from Wednesday.

Manchester United have reportedly identified Ajax manager Erik ten Hag as their preferred candidate to replace interim manager Erik ten Hag at the end of the season.

What’s the story?

According to The Mirror, the Red Devils’ hierarchy have set their sights on the highly-rated 51-year-old as they continue to search for Rangnick’s long-term heir.

The report states that: “United have identified Ten Hag as the manager who can bring back the glory days – and the 51-year-old’s midweek admission that he is seeking a new challenge has opened the door for the Reds. Ten Hag ticks all the boxes.”

Ten Hag admitted in a recent interview that he believes he’s ready to take the next step in his career and take charge of a top club overseas after five successful seasons at the Johan Cruyff ArenA.

“I think I’m ready for it (to move to a top foreign club),” the Dutchman told de Volkskrant. “I would be happy to take up that challenge. But I’m not chasing it.

“If it turns out that that step will never come, I will not say that my coaching career has failed. But I think I have sufficient competencies to take on that challenge.”

Man Utd fans will be buzzing

With Ten Hag appearing to be open to the challenge of taking charge at United and the club’s chiefs now outlining him as their No.1 target, fans of the 20-time English champions will surely be buzzing.

The Mirror’s report states that Ajax’s perfect record of six victories in their Champions League group that ­contained Borussia Dortmund, Sporting Lisbon and Besiktas was a big factor in the thinking of the United chiefs.

It is the first time the Dutch giants have won their opening six games in Europe’s elite cup competition, including when they lifted the trophy in 1995, and their lofty status in the Eredivisie was also a factor.

Throughout his Ajax tenure, Ten Hag has claimed five major trophies while achieving a win ratio of 74%, but it’s perhaps his style of play and ability to develop young stars that has really caught the eye.

Former striker Pierre Van Hooijdonk highlighted exactly that, citing the raft of exciting talent to be produced under his tutelage in Amsterdam.

“What he is managing to do with such young players is remarkable,” former striker Van Hooijdonk told TV station NOS in May 2019 (as relayed by Planet Football).

“The likes of (Matthijs) De Ligt, (Frenkie) De Jong and (Donny) Van de Beek have only just come out of the academy and are already playing like veterans. Ten Hag deserves huge credit.”

Therefore, Ten Hag appears to be an ideal fit for United, and his prospective appointment next summer would surely be warmly welcomed by everyone associated with the club.

And, in other news…“As things stand..”: Romano drops intriguing Man Utd update, fans will be ecstatic

With 25 strikes conceded in the Premier League so far this season, Aston Villa have let more goals in than Burnley, Brentford and Brighton & Hove Albion.

Taking this into account, the upcoming January transfer window could provide the Midlands club and Steven Gerrard with the opportunity to bring some reinforcements into the club, particularly in the defensive areas.

One deal that the club could look to do to strengthen the squad up at the back is by signing Rangers centre-back Connor Goldson, who Villa are reportedly in the frame to sign in January according to journalist Peter O’Rourke.

It was previously reported that Goldson had rejected the chance to sign a new deal with the Scottish club in an effort to join a Premier League club, which could pave the way for Gerrard to reunite with the defender after the 29-year-old made a total of 182 appearances under the current Villa boss at Rangers, scoring 17 goals and providing five assists in the process.

Labelled as a player with “incredible leadership” on and off the pitch by Gerrard, signing Goldson in January could be a dream move for the Villa manager to help give some guidance to Villa’s younger defenders such as Ezri Konsa, Kortney Hause and Axel Tuanzebe.

Since joining Rangers back in the 2018 summer transfer window from Brighton in a deal worth a reported fee of around £3m, Goldson has gone on to make 188 appearances for the club across all competitions, showing how vital he has been for the team since his arrival and why they would presumably prefer to keep hold of him for the remainder of the season.

This season has seen the defender, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £27k-per-week according to Salary Sport, play in all but two of Rangers’ games across all competitions, completing the full 90 minutes in all of them, highlighting him importance to the club.

With Villa also linked with a move for Liverpool centre-back Joe Gomez, Goldson could be a much cheaper alternative than the England international.

That’s when you take into account his advanced age and the presumption that the Reds would want more money for their player than Rangers would want for their asset, especially with his contract set to run out at the end of the season.

In other news: Lange must avoid transfer catastrophe at AVFC over “magnificent” £28.8m-rated machine – opinion

Plays of the Day from the match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings at the Brabourne Stadium

Cricinfo staff25-Mar-2010Harbhajan v Hayden
Matthew Hayden came out with the larger Mongoose, slapped four consecutive boundaries off Zaheer Khan’s first over, and threatened to impose himself. So Sachin Tendulkar made a smart move by bringing a spinner into the attack. Not just any spinner, but Harbhajan Singh, who had previous with Hayden all through the noughties. After seeing out a wide and missing the next ball, Hayden tried to push at the third with bat slightly behind pad. Harbhajan had slipped in the quicker one and had his man in front of off stump. He was off on his trademark victory dash in a flash.Tendulkar does a Laxman
It’s been painful to watch during the IPL: an artist forgoing his brilliance and resorting to ungainly methods to score. VVS Laxman’s done it and today Tendulkar joined the list. He attempted a wild swing against a short ball from L Balaji, which climbed over his head, and did not connect with the hook. It wasn’t pretty. Incidentally, he got out playing a similar slog against the same bowler later in the innings.Joginder forgets his field
Six men patrolled the off side, five in the circle and a third man. But Joginder Sharma, in his first over, kept pitching on Shikhar Dhawan’s pads and the batsman took advantage, hitting three fours in four balls to midwicket and square leg.Ball of the match
Having bowled five ordinary balls, including a wide, in his first over, Joginder made amends with the ball of the match. The outswinger started on middle stump before swerving slightly outside off, just enough to beat Tendulkar. He had lined up for a pre-mediated wristy flick to midwicket but was eventually squared up.Thissara’s wake-up call
With 48 runs needed off the last five overs, Chennai were looking to force the pace Joginder had been hit for 23 off his first two overs and MS Dhoni decided to give the IPL debutant Thissara Perera a bowl. Perera was unaware that his captain was waving animatedly at him and the move eventually backfired. He delivered a succession of friendly full tosses and leaked 19 runs.

Ravi Bopara could be handed an opportunity to restate his international credentials on Tuesday, when England begin their World Twenty20 preparations with a warm-up match against Bangladesh at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown

Cricinfo staff26-Apr-2010Ravi Bopara could be handed an opportunity to restate his international credentials on Tuesday, when England begin their World Twenty20 preparations with a warm-up match against Bangladesh at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown.Bopara has not featured in the England squad since being dropped ahead of the fifth and final Ashes Test against Australia at The Oval last August, but with Kevin Pietersen spending time with his pregnant wife, Jessica, prior to the start of the tournament next week, a temporary vacancy has arisen at No. 3, and Bopara is determined to fill it.”It was fantastic getting the news that I’m coming out here,” Bopara told reporters in Barbados. “I’m really delighted. It’s time for me to make that step again and make myself a regular and really make a difference in this competition. We’ve got a busy schedule this summer, and I’d love to be part of that. This is a great opportunity for me to make my mark and go on and play this summer.”Since his England omission, Bopara has been working on his game with stints with Auckland and the IPL franchise, Kings XI Punjab, and admitted that the time away from international cricket might have been a “blessing in disguise”. Without the spotlight trained on his performances, he has pieced together his game, and feels he’s ready for a comeback.”Naturally, I lost a little bit of confidence from not scoring runs in the Ashes,” he said. “I always expect a lot of myself and maybe I ended up putting a little bit of pressure on myself; maybe that was the big mistake I made at the time. But I’ve learned from that experience and come back stronger and a better cricketer – and I hope I can show it in this World Cup.”Bopara couldn’t wish for a more auspicious venue at which to play his first game back in England colours, because it was on the same ground last March that he made his first Test hundred against West Indies. “There are good memories for me here,” he said. “I know this is not Test cricket, but I hope I can do something which is the Twenty20 equivalent of that hundred I scored here.”As for Pietersen’s situation, England’s captain, Paul Collingwood, confirmed that – having helped Bangalore reach the semi-finals of the IPL last week – he had been given a few extra days to spend at home before the team play their first match of the tournament, against West Indies on Monday.”Kevin’s going to arrive in a couple of days,” said Collingwood. “Obviously Jess is pregnant, so it gives him an opportunity to get home for a couple of days. But that will not be a problem. He’s obviously ‘cricket-fit’, and I think one of the major things is that the guys who’ve been out in the IPL have certainly got their brains switched on towards Twenty20 cricket – which obviously helps.”Pietersen could well miss the culmination of England’s campaign, however, seeing as the due date is scheduled for the middle of May, and he has frequently stated his desire to be present at the birth. “At the back-end of the tournament, it could be we may miss him – if Jess delivers or shows signs of delivering,” said Collingwood. “But that is down the line. We’re solely concentrating on the first couple of games to get through to the next stage.”