England are now just days away from the beginning of a seven-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, as preparations for the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup begin to intensify.
Nottinghamshire’s Harry Gurney has warned people of writing England off too early, insisting that they can return from this period of 50-over cricket as world champions.
“Sometimes being the underdog is a good thing. We’ll go over there and maybe some people will be a little complacent going into some games against us and that’ll work in our favour,” he said.
“We don’t mind that. You’re always going to get people in the medea writing teams off but you have to turn a blind eye to it and play the best that you can.
“Some of the other nations are playing Tests but I don’t know whether it’s a quirk of the fixture schedule or good planning but there’s nothing but 50-over cricket for us to focus on between now and the world cup final.
“The start of the world cup is less than three months away and the focus is solely on that. It should give us an advantage over other countries who are playing in other formats at the moment.”
Gurney is part of a healthy Nottinghamshire contingent making the trip to Sri Lanka, with the left-arm seamer joined by batsmen Alex Hales and James Taylor.
With this tour being the first chance for a new-look England dressing room to work closely abroad, Gurney praised the team spirit and energy of his teammates going into the series.
“It’s nice to have them around,” he said.
“You know what Hales is like, he’s a good character and it’ll be my first long tour away with Titch, we’d been to Barbados a few times but this is the first real trip. It’ll be interesting to see how they tick on tours like this.
“This group started together in April for the Sri Lanka series under Peter Moores. It was a fresh approach, after one or two well-publicised departures from the setup and it has been a bit of a rollercoaster summer which has got better and better as it has gone on.
“Going into this intensive period it was hugely important to build a team culture with a group of 17 or 18 players who are likely to be involved in the majority of those games, and we did that in London before we left.
“Every single player, even those with shorter concentration spans, came away and felt it was a worthwhile experience and we’re now, as a team, in a much better place than we were when we started.”
2014 has been a year of international breakthrough for Gurney. After an excellent 2013 season with Nottinghamshire was rewarded with a trip to Australia as a specialist net-bowler for England’s Ashes preparations, he has gone from strength to strength.
Making his international debut against Scotland, Gurney represented his country against both Sri Lanka and India this summer, and is looking to cap off his year with success away from the British Isles.
“It’s been great. This time last year I had just gone to Australia with the Ashes squad to bowl at them prior to the series and there was a few people saying to me things like ‘you’re obviously in the Engand frame, this is a chance to impress’ that kind of thing,” he said.
“I was very aware of being in the shop window and had to go out there and do as well as I could. From that point on I’ve been involved with England in pretty much everything since that series.
“When if first signed for Notts three years ago I had elements of doubt as to whether I’d be good enough for a club that size.
“The first year of that was bedding in, and trying to earn the respect of my coaches and colleagues. I managed to do that and the man management here is excellent.
“Whether that’s managing workloads, or tailoring programmes rather than adopting a one-size fits all approach, the backroom team its brilliant and the longer they stay together the happier I’ll be.”
England's ODI side will return to Nottinghamshire in June 2015, with New Zealand the visitors to Trent Bridge. Don't miss the chance to witness another absorbing contest and secure your seats now