Colly hopes England won't wobble

England one-day skipper Paul Collingwood believes Saturday's winner-takes-all one-day international clash with the West Indies at Trent Bridge is a perfect test of his men's character.

With the tourists levelling the three-match NatWest series at 1-1 with a 61-run defeat at a sodden Edgbaston, Collingwood and his men are refusing to be downbeat.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul proved England's nemisis once again, smashing an unbeaten 116 as the Windies posted a score of 278-5 in their 50 overs, before Ravi Rampaul took 4-41 as the home side were dismissed for just 217.

And Collingwood said: "We are confident. We are a young side and Saturday is going to be a great experience for them.

"It is a final in effect, we will get mentally prepared for that and it will put everyone in that squad in good stead for the future.

"Experiences like that are going to make us better in the end, we are all still on a learning curve and sometimes you do need defeats to move on - hopefully we will learn a lot from it."

Chanderpaul, who has passed 50 in all seven innings during the Test and one-day international series, was the cornerstone of the tourists' innings and enjoyed 175-run third-wicket stand with Marlon Samuels (77).

And Collingwood says he and his team-mates are trying to find away to remove the dangerman: "We have theories as to how we might get him out. They don't always work.

"We just need a little bit of luck sometimes as well; he has played and missed a little bit but generally I think he has been the one player in their side who has been so hard to get out.

"Hopefully come Saturday we can have that little bit of luck or a magic ball which gets him out early."

Tempers frayed in a final ten overs which yielded 102 with James Anderson and Runako Morton becoming embroiled in some shoulder barging which was addressed by umpire Brian Jerling and defended by both captains.

And Collingwood has defended England's aggressive approach in the middle, adding: "Was it feisty out there? We don't mind that. That's cricket. Simple as that.

"To be perfectly honest, I don't mind the boys getting stuck if they need to get stuck in. I don't mind that at all."

West Indies skipper Chris Gayle said: "These guys have been playing cricket against each other for quite some time now. There's nothing personal because they have been at it already.

"We were just trying to get on top of them as early as possible and they did the same thing, so it was a little bit of give and take. I hope no-one takes it too seriously.

"To be honest we are aggressive people and in cricket we need to be more determined. Once you can get on top of opponents earlier the better you tend to play."

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