England not approaching World Twenty20 final with trepidation: Flower

BARBADOS - The England cricket team is not approaching the World Twenty20 final against Australia with trepidation, said coach Andy Flower on Friday.

“The guys are bouncing off the walls and really looking forward to the game (against Australia),” Flower said.

“I’m excited to be here having never been anywhere near a World Cup final or anything. We all are. No one is approaching it with any trepidation at all,” he added.

Talking about England’s semi-final victory over Sri Lanka, Flower said while the team was gung-ho with happiness, “This is not the time for back-slapping.”

“We have a final tomorrow and we haven’t achieved anything yet,” he said.

Flower stressed the need to look forward, not back, but allowed himself a small glimpse in the rear-view mirror at a tenure as coach that has seen relentless progress in all forms of the game culminating in a chance at a limited-overs title.

From steadying the ship as interim coach here in the Caribbean last winter, he has since guided England to an Ashes win, drawn against South Africa on tour in a Test series and beaten them in the ODIs, and beaten Bangladesh.

“We played some really good cricket to start off the winter in the Champions Trophy, carried it on by beating South Africa and now we have transferred a bit of that into the Twenty20 stuff,” said Flower.

“I’ve been very pleased with the way the guys have played in this tournament so far. The batsmen have shown confidence and innovation, made good decisions and handled themselves well under pressure. The bowlers have shown a lot of skill and nous in using the conditions to our advantage,” Flower said.

“But we have achieved nothing yet. We have a game to win and if we don’t win it we won’t be holders of any world cup or trophy - it is as simple as that,” he added. (ANI)