Anderson fit and raring for success in Caribbean

Pace bowler James Anderson believes England have every chance of lifting the trophy in the Caribbean after declaring himself fully recovered from a nagging knee injury.

Anderson has played two County Championship games in the build-up to the tournament and has felt no ill-effects from the knee problem that forced him to miss England's trip to Bangladesh earlier this year.

His appearance in the opening championship game against Warwickshire was his first competitive action since returning from England's tour of South Africa in January – and his first game for Lancashire in almost a year.

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"It was good to get back into some cricket," said Anderson. "I've had a bit of break trying to get my knee right. I played a couple of games for Lancashire and it went really well.

"It was all about getting some overs under my belt and testing my knee out to make sure it could stand up to bowling again. It has done that.

"Twenty20 is a non-stop game because you are running around for three hours solid but I am pretty confident the knee will be fine. I got through the two games without any pain.

"The knee was a tricky one to work out because the scans did not show any structural damage, which is a good thing. The knee is in good condition.

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"We think we have got to the bottom of it and the rest has done it good. I bowled over 80 overs in the last two weeks and it feels fine. So I am pretty positive about it."

The England team departed from Gatwick for the Caribbean yesterday and will play warm-up games against Bangladesh and South Africa in the lead-up to the tournament.

England meet Bangladesh – their most recent opponents following their tour in February and March – on April 28 at the Kensington Oval in Barbados, the same venue that will stage their match with South Africa the following day.

The opening day of the tournament proper on April 30 sees games between New Zealand and Sri Lanka, and West Indies and Ireland – England's Group D opponents – in Guyana.

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England, led by Paul Collingwood, begin their World Twenty20 campaign against the hosts in Guyana on May 3 and Anderson believes that the new-look squad has every chance.

"We go into every tournament thinking we can win it and wanting to win it," he declared, disagreeing with coach Andy Flower, who says England are "under-cooked".

Anderson adds: "We have got a great chance. We had a good tour of Dubai and good one-day series in Bangladesh, so if we can gel together early in this tour, I see no reason why we can't go on and win it."