England cricket team prepared to change play in India

England will look to get better on their miserable one-day record in India when they conflict with the injury-ravaged world champions in a five-match series starting Friday.

England have beaten India just once in their last 10 one-day internationals on Indian soil, which built-in a exciting tie during the World Cup in Bangalore in March.

Alastair Cook's side will be cheerful after a leading home season when they strike India 4-0 in the Test series to take over as the world's number one team, and also won the one-dayers 3-0.

Cook, however, refuse to take victory for decided against a exhausted home team misplaced key players such as Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh due to injury or poor form.

"I don't see any relation between what happen in England and what's going to ensue out here," Cook said in front of the first one-dayer at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

"India is historically very strong at home, and we have a very tough challenge on our hands. It's a great chance for an England side to play the world champions in their back yard."

England, who at home in India on October 4 to acclimatize to local conditions, warm up for the series by winning both do matches next to Hyderabad teams.

On Tuesday, they routed the local side by 253 runs after Jonny Bairstow cracked an unbeaten 104 off 53 balls and uncapped leg-spinner Scott Borthwick pulled out up five wickets.

The new-look Indian team has just four survivors -- skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina -- from the side that beat Sri Lanka in the World Cup final in Mumbai on April 2.

Tendulkar, Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel are getting better from injury, while Harbhajan and Shanthakumaran Sreesanth was drop due to unfortunate form.

India's 15-man squad for the first two one-dayers include three players -- leg-spinner Rahul Sharma, 24, left-arm seamer Sreenath Aravind, 27, and fast bowler Varun Aaron, 21 -- who have yet to play international cricket.

Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Sharma are the three spin option, while Praveen Kumar will lead a new-ball assault that also includes Umesh Yadav and Vinay Kumar.

Kevin Pietersen proceeds for England after being absent for the one-dayers next to India at home, but the tourists are with no pace spearhead James Anderson who is being rested, and Stuart Broad who is injured.

Tim Bresnan, Jade Dernbach and Steven Finn will top the tourists' pace attack, which also include 22-year-old uncapped Surrey bowler Stuart Meaker.

Despite injury to star players and the embarrassing defeats on English soil, India appears unfazed.

"England played very well in England and deserve to win, but we will do well at home," said middle-order batsman Raina.

The residual four matches after the Hyderabad opener will be played in New Delhi on October 17, Mohali on the 20th, Mumbai on the 23rd and Kolkata on the 25th.

England will around off the tour with a Twenty20 game in Kolkata on October 29.

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Cook rubbish ball-tampering talk

Alastair Cook has fervently denied Umar Gul's charge that England bowlers Stuart Broad and James Anderson have occupied in ball tampering.

Gul claimed Anderson tampered with the ball during Pakistan's contentious 2010 tour of England and that Broad did the same in the most recent Ashes series in Australia.

He said: "During our series against England last year I saw [James] Anderson was doing it (ball tampering). Against Australia, when they [England] won the Ashes, everyone saw Broad use his shoe to scratch the ball."

England one-day captain Cook hit back at the 27-year-old's claims today, saying: "We certainly haven't tampered with the ball and if he did have any complaint he should have gone to the ICC over that.

"I think he has approximately said himself that it has been a bit of a mountain out of a molehill."

Gul came out with claim that Broad and Anderson illegally tampered with the ball after reading retired Pakistan paceman Shoaib Akhtar's memoirs, which contains an admission that he took part in ball tampering during his career.

Cook was speaking at London Heathrow airport ahead of his team's leaving to India, where they will play five 50-over games and one Twenty20 over the next four weeks.

Cook led the ODI team to a 3-0 win over the Indians in England this summer after Andrew Strauss had skippered the team to a 5-0 Test whitewash.

Cook admit playing the 50-over world champions on their own soil will be a much harder task, but has still back his men to win.

"I surely think we can beat India," Cook said."It will be extremely tough. We need everyone to be playing very well.

"We all know what the one-day crowds are like over there. They love their cricket. "Delivering our skills when 50,000 or 60,000 people are screaming and when balls are flying all over the place will also be a key factor, but absolutely with this squad I think we can do something actually special."

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Alastair Cook prove to lead England rout

England 171 for 0 (Cook 95*, Kieswetter 72*) hit Sri Lanka 174 (Sangakkara 75, Anderson 3-24) by ten wickets - D/L

Alastair Cook prove nothing new to himself but much, he hopes, to plenty of others as he led England to a 10-wicket NatWest Series-levelling victory.

England's new 50-over captain has come in for much flak over his seeming incapability to up his tempo sufficiently at the top of the order in the shorter formats.

But after his of necessity watchful hundred in Sunday's beat at Lord's, he cracked 16 fours from 75 balls in an winning 95 as he and Craig Kieswetter made no mistakes in response to Sri Lanka's inadequate 174.

James Anderson (three for 24) was primarily accountable for the tourists missing their total - despite Kumar Sangakkara's 75 - and Cook and Kieswetter (72no) then made nonsense of a revised target of 171, to total the job with almost 25 overs to spare.

"It's very satisfying, for all the hard work I've been putting in," said Cook. "I've always recognized I can play the one-day game; it's just a matter of trying to prove it to people.

"If I can keep bat like that, at that tempo - which I've exposed this series - it holds me in good stead." Cook was not tempting either to take Kieswetter up on his present to help him reach his third one-day international hundred.

He had been critical of Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews shepherd youngster Dinesh Chandimal to his hundred as Sri Lanka coast home at Lord's - and was not about to be part of something similar in Nottingham.

"Everyone enjoys a 'red-ink' - so watching Kiesy hit a six and a two was pleasing," he said. "He did ask which is fair sufficient. But this is the way we want to play our cricket, and proves that the team is always more significant than those personal milestone.

"He immediately said 'Shall I look for ones, or hit a six?' So he hit a six." The outcome was only ever in doubt - after Anderson and his member seamers Jade Dernbach (three for 38), Tim Bresnan and Stuart Broad had hustle Sri Lanka out so inexpensively - because of the threat of rain.

But England's openers were unfazed by the meeting clouds, which in the end did not deliver. "When you win by 10 wickets and play as well as that, it doesn't get much better," added Cook.

"The way we bowled up front clearly put us on the front foot, and then I consideration that catch Bresnan took distorted the game - because they were getting a partnership going.

"Then the way Jade bowled in the power play - an area where we haven't done well and can get better our skills in - was very good as well."

As for Anderson's strange knack of taking wickets at this venue, Cook said: "I truthfully don't know why he does it as well as that. He just loves it here. It must be his favorite ground."

Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan was Anderson's first victim. He said: "He bowled really well and second-hand the conditions.

"They took three wickets in the first six overs, and it pressed us back after that. "But if somebody had batted really well in the middle order we might have passed 250. Then it might have been a dissimilar story."

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Cook: Broad appearance still not a worry

England have troubles to address if they are to fight back in the NatWest Series, but captain Alastair Cook is not panic yet about Stuart Broad's form.

Broad was wicketless once more at Lord's - he has yet to strike in three 50-over fixtures next to Sri Lanka so far - having learn before start of play yesterday that he must also fork out 50% of his match fee for losing his temper at Headingley.

Broad will head for his home ground of Trent Bridge on Wednesday nursing series figures of none for 154. But after England's six-wicket beat at HQ, centurion Cook said of the fast bowler's barren run: "I think it's just one of those things."

Cook saw sufficient in Broad's labors - particularly when bowling to man-of-the-match Dinesh Chandimal (105no) - to help him keep the faith.

"In a pair of overs when he was bowling forcefully at the guy who got a hundred, he hit the gloves and got the ball to bounce up.

"He had a short-leg in, and they just kept avoid him. "At the instant it's not fairly going for Broady, a bit like the Test matches. "But this is what cricket does, and if he get five-for next time on his home ground it will be welcome."

As for Broad's financial punishment from International Cricket Council match referee Alan Hurst in Leeds, it seems both bowler and captain have established he was at fault for apparently swearing at umpire Billy Bowden over a not-out lbw decision.

"He oversteps the mark," said Cook. "But when he bowled forcefully he made it painful - that's what Stuart does well. "Broady's always played that way. That's part of what's made him get so far in the game so quickly.

"Occasionally he has overstepped the mark. But when you're wrong you're wrong, you put your hands up - and he admits that."

Broad's woes are not the only mark of bother for England at present following yesterday's six-wicket defeat.

Their critics also point to natural accumulators Cook and Jonathan Trott's tricky co-existence at numbers one and three in a limited-over batting line-up - while there is also the question of whether an extra spin alternative may serve them better in the bowling attack.

"We're going to appraisal this game, like we always do, and we'll try to pick the best side to win the game," said Cook, looking onward to Nottingham.

"If it's going to fly throughout we want four quicks. We're happy with that, but we can change that side."

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Cook roll in as England build guide

Alastair Cook's fifth succeeding Test half-century helped England overcome the loss of Andrew Strauss for a second-ball duck and move towards safety next to Sri Lanka at Lord's.

Strauss fell lbw on the back foot to Chanaka Welegedara for the second time in this second npower Test, having made only four in two attempts, before England improved to reach 149 for two by stumps on day four.

They had banked a direct of only seven runs after Steven Finn completed with four wickets and took his Test occupation tally to 50 - the youngest Englishman to reach that landmark - in Sri Lanka's 479 all out.

The match therefore appears to come down to a directly second-innings shoot-out.

But despite England's instant setback, Cook (61no) and Jonathan Trott (58) settled nerves adequately to make a deadlock by far the likeliest outcome tomorrow in this three-match series which England currently lead 1-0.

England's player of the year Trott and his man Ashes run machine Cook were the ideal men to stave off more trouble, after the hosts stumble to 22 for three in their first innings.

So it proved too, in a century stand which calmly restores the premise that - even under murk and floodlight glare - there was not sufficient firepower in this Sri Lanka attack to open up a shot at a surprise victory.

Instead, it seemed, Strauss would have the luxury of decide whether or not to push critically for a win tomorrow.

One of valuable few false shots from England's second-wicket pair brought Trott four runs, edged through a available third slip off Dilhara Fernando, to take him to within one run of his 66-ball half-century.

Cook follows him to 50, from 86 balls. But by then Kevin Pietersen's long judgment to wait with his pads on - as in Cardiff last week - was over.

Trott yorked himself in Rangana Herath's first over, leaving Pietersen to block his first two balls next to his vengeance left-arm spin.

The clapping of a small crowd might have been read as helpful or ironic. But either way, Pietersen could be in no doubt he had a point to prove - and he took a small pace towards doing so by closing out the last hour with Cook.

England's pace bowlers, the object of much disapproval for their faulty lines over the past two days, had earlier enhanced significantly.

They still did not get it right all the time but tested the Sri Lankans satisfactorily for fair reward in favorable circumstances under cloud cover.

Finn (four for 108) began ominously, spearing his very first delivery of the day in a before incomplete over from the exhibition area end down the leg side.

But he corrects his line well enough to have Mahela Jayawardene edging an ill at ease ball on the back-foot defence to third slip, where Cook - who had drop Tharanga Paranavitana in the ring two days ago - this time, clung on.

Jayawardene was gone one run short of his 50, and two balls later Chris Tremlett strike at the other end when Thilan Samaraweera edge some full-length outswing behind.

The tourists were so five down, with two men in on nought and still 92 runs behind.

Stuart Broad was detained back until the 14th over of the day. But after yielding a four from his first ball, Prasanna Jayawardene binding an attempted pull over the heads of the slips to bring up 100 runs next to the first of three bowlers' names, Broad struck with one that uneven down the hill to have Farveez Maharoof lbw.

Sri Lanka appeared in danger after all of conceding a important first-innings lead - but not so after a counter-attacking place of 57 between Herath and Jayawardene.

Each batsman slog-swept Graeme Swann for a six, among several daring strokes, until the off-spinner got his retribution on the left-hander - up the wicket and confused when he did not get to the pitch of one that twisted.

Jayawardene had been timing the ball particularly well. But once he fell to a very good catch by Swann, headfirst low to his left at second slip to give Finn his milestone in only his 12th Test, virtual parity was certain and duly established as the last four wickets fell for 13 runs.

Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan, who suffers a badly bruised thumb in the course of his 193, did not take the field when his team bowled for the second time. Kumar Sangakkara led the tourists in his absence.

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