Richards not convinced by England
England Cricket
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Editor /
18 February 2007 /
Sir Viv Richards is not convinced England are good enough to win the World Cup.
The Three Lions head to the Caribbean in buoyant mood after three one-day international wins on the spin over world champions Australia.
But former Windies skipper Richards, who scored 6,721 runs in 187 one-dayers at an average of 47, refused to get carried away by the clean sweep and felt England caught Australia at the right time.
Two-time World Cup winner Richards said: "Ever since they beat Australia you would think England have a chance.
"But I don't believe their one-day team is as good as they do. They might have got a tired Australia team in the end."
England are tied at 10.5 with India in Betfair's World Cup 2007 - Winner market to claim glory and are just in front of New Zealand (2.02) at 1.92 to emerge from Group C as winners.
Richards, while not overly-impressed by England, does feel however that his countrymen have an excellent chance of winning the trophy for the first time since he steered them to a second success in 1979.
"I have always said we have a very good chance of winning this World Cup. We have assembled a team that is good enough to compete at this level," he explained.
"There are so many things for them to motivate themselves for. No team has ever hosted a World Cup and won it so that is a great opportunity.
"Winning it as a West Indies unit is collectively good for the whole region and I believe we stand a very good chance," he told BBC Sport.
West Indies are available at 1.8 to win Group D and claim victory in the tournament at 9.6. Hard-hitting left-hand opener Chris Gayle (15) and feared batsman Brian Lara (20) may also interest backers in the Top Runscorer market.
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