Strauss – “we’re here to win the World Cup”

England Captain has declared his team’s intentions of making an impact at the World Cup, which begins later this week. England endured a torrid time during their one-day series against sports betting favourites Australia at the tail end of their prolonged winter tour, but Strauss insists his side are capable of competing with the best in the world.England are the last of the teams to arrive at the tournament, which lasts six weeks, and Strauss insists the tournament coming so soon after the long Australian tour won’t have an effect on his side. He said: “We're here to win it and we're excited.”

“The 6-1 defeat by Australia was not ideal, but in some ways we might have benefited from the fact that five or six of our players picked up some injuries and therefore had an opportunity to rest for two or three weeks.”

The Middlesex batsman also believes his team can learn from their Twenty20 counterparts, who are reigning World Twenty20 champions.

"I think the guys took a lot of confidence from winning the ICC World Twenty20 in the Caribbean last year." He said.

England have a chequered past in the World Cup since reaching the final in 1991. Under Nasser Hussein and coach Duncan Fletcher they withdrew from a game against Zimbabwe in 2003 for political reasons, a move which eventually cost them as they missed out on qualification from the group stage. In 2007 they also left the competition early after a heavy defeat against South Africa.

Strauss and his side will have to do it the hard way after losing Eoin Morgan for the tournament with a finger injury, while bowler Tim Bresnan and Stuart Broad are in a race to be ready in time. Graeme Swann looks to have overcome a knee injury.

England received a boost earlier this week after Kevin Pietersen announced on twitter that it was not his intention to retire after the tournament. Amid reports in the media that this tournament would be his last, the South African-born batsman tweeted: “Just to set the record straight.. I have NO intention of retiring from ODI's after the World Cup!!”