England quash retirement rumours

The England hierarchy has moved to dismiss rumours over the future of its senior players as the team desperately try to recover their World Cup campaign after defeat to Bangladesh.

England's erratic campaign has left them needing to beat West Indies to be sure of qualification to the quarter-finals, but the ECB had to insist on Sunday that suggestions Andrew Strauss would retire from one-day cricket at the end of the tournament were unfounded.

"I can say, categorically, that Andrew and I have not had that conversation [about retirement]. It's purely speculation," the ECB managing director Hugh Morris told BBC Sport. "At the end of each winter series we have a robust debrief and Andrew will be involved, but at this stage we've had no discussions. I've had no discussions with Kevin [Pietersen], Andrew or any players."

Meanwhile, England's Twenty20 captain, Paul Collingwood, had to make similar rebuttals about his own future after his decline in form led to him batting No. 8 in the recent two-wicket loss to Bangladesh. He insisted his only concern is the next game against West Indies and feels England's sluggish start to the tournament is similar to their experience at the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean. There, they ended as champions despite some scrappy showings in the early stages.

"One reason I retired from Test cricket was to prolong the one-day side of things and I still feel I have major contributions to make," Collingwood said. "I'm still Twenty20 captain. I want to continue that as well. It's not in my mind to even think about things like [my future].

"I see things developing very much how the Twenty20 did last year in the West Indies. We scraped through the group stages, but once we did we really put our performances together and went on to win it. We really need to focus on getting this complete game. You put the whole thing together, and we're a formidable team. We want to do that against the West Indies."

After a marathon winter that started when they left for Australia at the end of October, England's cricketers have looked bedraggled of late. They conceded 23 wides in the defeat to Bangladesh but despite admitting the scheduling has been tough, Collingwood said there was no excuse for their showing so far.

"It's not ideal having two huge series or tournaments together, it's like having two Olympics in the same winter. But we can't make that as an excuse. We're focused on knowing if we win those four games we win the World Cup and there aren't many times in your career where you can say that."