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“There have been question marks over us before, but it’s time to draw a line under that and show what a good side we are”
England pace bowler Jade Dernbach has announced that there is no reason why the national team cannot win the 2014 World Twenty20 in Bangladesh, especially since they have “had quite a lot of success” as of late.
England won the 2010 edition of the World Twenty20, which was held in the Caribbean, but never came close to defending their title in Sri Lanka in 2012, where they only managed to beat Afghanistan and New Zealand in the group stages.
England’s performance during the 2012 World Twenty20 once again brought to light their poor limited overs record in the subcontinent.
In the 2011 World Cup, they were knocked out in the quarter-finals.
Later on that year, they were whitewashed 5-0 in an ODI series against India and just at the beginning of this year, they lost 3-2 in another bilateral ODI series against the Indians.
However, Dernbach is confident that England can put their subcontinent woes behind them and “show what a good side we are”.
“I think we can beat some of the best sides around in the that format, so having the World Cup is great opportunity for us to test ourselves,” Dernbach said. “It’s over in the subcontinent and there have been question marks over us before, but it’s time to draw a line under that and show what a good side we are.
“I’m excited about our Twenty20 side at the moment, we’ve had quite a lot of success and now it’s time to show that on the world stage.”
Dernbach added that England need to assign a “specific job” to every player they select for the tournament as he believes that is the only way the national team can relive the glory days of their 2010 World Twenty20 triumph.
“Everyone who is picked has a specific job to do and for me it’s about being able to fulfil that role,” he said. “With the balance of the side we’ve got, and the players we can pick from, it enables people to have a very clear role.
“Bowling at the death and in the Powerplays helps you understand what you are trying to achieve. Some days someone is going to come out on top but it’s your job to try and change that. In Twenty20 the crowd has come to see sixes, but for us as bowlers it’s just as exciting for us to be able to remove these players.”