"We didn't quite unlock the door in terms of our batting at The Oval," says England batting coach Graham Thorpe
Saturday 1 June 2019 22:58, UK
Graham Thorpe has suggested Mark Wood will come into contention for England's World Cup clash with Pakistan on Monday following the latter's struggle against the short ball in their loss to West Indies.
Pakistan were rolled for 105 - their second-lowest World Cup total - as they toiled against West Indies quick Andre Russell's bouncers at Trent Bridge.
Jofra Archer roughed up South Africa with short deliveries as England recorded a thumping 104-run win in the opening match of the World Cup at The Oval on Thursday and could now be joined in the XI by Wood, who has overcome an ankle niggle.
"I think it will be discussed, to be honest," England batting coach Thorpe said when pressed about Wood's possible inclusion in Nottingham. "[West Indies] looked like they roughed Pakistan up. It was interesting viewing."
England beat Pakistan 4-0 in a pre-World Cup ODI series but Thorpe believes that will have no bearing on Monday's encounter.
We didn't quite unlock the door in terms of our batting at The Oval. If we get into a good position, we'll try to score as many as we can. At the same time, if it doesn't happen you've got to put a competitive score on the board to put the opposition under pressure
"The games that we played against Pakistan are irrelevant in that series which has gone," Thorpe added.
"We know them but we also know how close those games were, so whether it makes them more dangerous or not I think they're a dangerous side anyway."
Pakistan paceman Wahab Riaz says the one-sided scoreline was not a fair reflection of the ODI series - and has also insisted that his side's batsmen will be able to cope with a short-ball barrage if it comes their way at Trent Bridge.
"There wasn't much between the runs we scored [against England]," said the left-armer. "I think the only difference was the fielding. We dropped too many catches at crucial moments.
"We've worked a lot on that because we have to be on the very top of our game to beat England, we have to be spot-on with the execution of our plans."
On the seven-wicket loss to West Indies, Wahab added: "We didn't play the short ball well but we've seen in past series that we can score runs against that sort of bowling. If people want to bowl us bouncers, we will have no problems with that.
"It's not a mental issue. We have been losing in the past, we need to find a way to get out of this pattern. We've been playing some good cricket but we need to click at the right time.
"We just need to work on our self confidence and self belief. We are only looking for positives, we will come back from this. We know where we are making the mistakes and a win against England would change everything."
Watch England vs Pakistan live on Sky Sports Cricket World Cup from 10am on Monday.
