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England badly missing Trescothick, says Bashar
Mark Meadows
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April 12, 2007 14:01 IST
England are badly missing opener Marcus Trescothick at the World Cup after they struggled to chase down a low score on Wednesday, Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar said.

Bangladesh were bowled out for 143 in 37.2 overs in the World Cup Super Eights clash before England stumbled to a four-wicket victory in 44.5 overs.

Trescothick, a mainstay of the England side since 2000, was not considered for the World Cup after pulling out of tours to India and Australia last year because of a stress-related illness.

The 31-year-old's powerful hitting at the top of the order was underlined by his 256 for English county side Somerset in a pre-season friendly against Devon on Sunday.

"They are missing someone like Marcus Trescothick. He is the one who makes a big difference for them," Bashar told a news conference.

England have been disappointing all tournament, losing to New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Australia. They must now beat South Africa and West Indies in their remaining second-stage games to have a good chance of reaching the semi-finals.

Asked how England compared to defending champions Australia or in-form New Zealand, Bashar was in charitable mood.

"They are all different kinds of teams. I still believe England are a good team," he said.

The Kensington Oval pitch was much livelier early on than most of the slow wickets elsewhere in the Caribbean and Bashar said it had contributed to their poor batting display.

"The wicket played a bit differently today. In the first 15 overs it did a bit. It was a bad toss to lose," he said after England had inserted his side.

England paceman and man-of-the-match Sajid Mahmood, who has flattered to deceive so far in the tournament, took three wickets and said the wicket was more to his liking.

"It is a little bit bowler friendly. It's got extra bounce and an extra bit of pace. I think I'm hitting pretty good areas. I just need to further it against West Indies and South Africa," Mahmood said.

England play South Africa at the same venue on Tuesday before taking on West Indies on April 21.

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