England will benefit from busy schedule - Collingwood

JOHANNESBURG, Sep 10 (Reuters) England captain Paul Collingwood believes that going straight into the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 tournament after a busy cricketing summer will benefit his team.

''It's been a quick turnaround coming here but playing a lot of cricket recently will be good for us. Our skills are up to scratch and we're obviously match-fit,'' Collingwood told reporters today.

''We played some fantastic cricket against India, so we will go into this tournament with a lot of confidence and, with the experienced Twenty20 players we have in the squad, hopefully that will give us an edge.'' England flew to South Africa 24 hours after clinching a 4-3 one-day series win over India and Collingwood said there was still a buzz in the team.

''I wouldn't make us favourites but it's been a couple of days since the win over India, so we are all in a buoyant mood and that could work in our favour.'' England have been hit by another Andrew Flintoff injury scare but Collingwood is confident the all-rounder will play in the tournament.

''Freddie has a bit of soreness in his ankle, which we will assess as we go. But hopefully he can play every game. He is desperate to play. He's a massive player for us, he's two players in one.'' Collingwood said Dimitri Mascarenhas, a late replacement for the injured Ryan Sidebottom, would also play an important role as an all-rounder.

''Dimitri's done fantastically well since he came into the one-day side. He hits the ball well and his bowling in the middle overs is very important to us,'' he said.

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