By Callum Dent
England are more than capable of beating defending champions Pakistan in their opening Blind Cricket World Cup match in South Africa tomorrow, according to skipper Matt Dean.
West Indies’ late withdrawal from the tournament caused a shake-up in the fixtures, meaning Ross Hunter’s Visually Impaired side now kick-off their campaign against the 2012 winners rather than Sri Lanka.
Dean refuses to be overawed by the challenge, insisting England have the confidence to give as good as they get.
The London Metro player told ecb.co.uk:“It is a very tough match. This team are current one-day world champions.
“They lost (to India) in the Twenty20 World Cup final so they have a lot to prove. I know they were really hurting from that defeat. They have a lot to prove so I am expecting them to come at us hard.
“I know the Pakistan team and they will be saying ‘let’s set a world-record score against these guys’.
“That will be their attitude and that is the way they play. That is great because we have got our plans and we are going to come at them just as hard."
The Pakistan clash is the first of a minimum of six matches for England, who have aspirations of qualifying for the semi-finals on December 6.
Dean was part of the side that secured a third-placed finish two years ago and is hoping to improve on that this time round.
The 34-year-old said: “Teams keep getting better. South Africa are going to be much better than they were in 2012.
“We don’t know what Bangladesh have done in those two years. It is going to be a real tough tournament.
“India and Pakistan are two great teams. If we get wins against them, we see that as a bonus.
“We know we are capable of it, but we know they are very good teams. If you beat them you have done extremely well.
“For us there are three teams, Australia, Sri Lanka and South Africa, and they are the teams we need to beat.
“If we can get ourselves into the semi-finals, I think we have done really well. Once you’re in the semi-finals, it’s a knockout stage and anything can happen.”
Experienced player Dean, who made his debut in 2004, will skipper his country for the first time in a major tournament tomorrow.
“I take pleasure in selecting the team and making sure the team we select is right,” he said.
“But also making sure guys are getting opportunities that they should be getting. I am in a good place right now because the team are happy and if the team are happy, I’m happy.
“The mood is good. The guys are really happy. We had had three training sessions now and they are acclimatising well. We are raring to go and the realisation that the World Cup is upon them is there.
“Everyone is really relaxed ready to go. I think everyone is super excited.”