Adam Gilchrist wary of England threat

England Cricket / Editor / 05 April 2007 / Leave a Comment

Australia vice-captain Adam Gilchrist has warned his team-mates of the threat that England pose, as the two teams prepare to clash in Antigua on Sunday.

The wicket-keeper was part of the Aussie squad that lost the Commonwealth Bank series to England at the turn of the year and knows that Michael Vaughan's men have match winners.

Gilchrist admitted: "They are definitely a threat - any team that has won through to the Super 8's is a threat on any given day.
"England have shown they can seemingly be out of sorts and all washed up and then they can turn it around. They turned us on our head, and that can happen even more drastically in a one-off game."

Meanwhile, Australia say they are still hopeful that Shane Watson will be fit for the World Cup semi-finals but have put James Hopes on standby.

All-rounder Watson picked up a calf muscle injury and limped out of his country's win over Bangladesh last Saturday.
The defending champions though are confident that he will be available if, as expected, Ricky Ponting's men reach the last four.
Chairman of selectors, Andrew Hilditch, said: "We've put James Hopes on standby as a shadow player for Shane Watson.
"It's not with a view to Shane leaving the group. The intention and expectation is that Shane will recover and play a vital part in the World Cup."

The ICC Champions Trophy winners are the 1.29 favourites to win Sunday's Super 8 game, while England are trading at 4.3.