Edwards’ England receive backing from Collingwood and Strauss

ENGLAND“S men have backed Charlotte Edwards’ women’s team ahead of their ICC World Twenty20 final with New Zealand at Lord’s on Sunday.

Paul Collingwood’s side bowed out of the tournament at the Super Eight stage during the week, and were delighted to see England women power past Australia by eight wickets at The Oval yesterday to seal their place at finals day – only three months after becoming World Champions.

Collingwood said: "Congratulations on reaching yet another World Cup Final, it’s a fantastic achievement. Good luck for tomorrow“s final, we’re right behind you and will be watching closely as you continue to do us proud."

Andrew Strauss, who now resumes the captaincy role for the rest of the summer, added his support for England women, who will play New Zealand at 10.30am as the first part of a double-header with the Pakistan v Sri Lanka men’s final at 3pm.

"Congratulations on reaching the World Twenty20 final," said Strauss. "To have consistently maintained such an outstanding level of performance is a credit to all the hard work you and the rest of the team have put in.

"Good luck for tomorrow’s final, we know you’ll do England proud!"

England team director Andy Flower was also full of praise for the work of head coach Mark Lane and his side, who clinched the title in the ICC Women’s World Cup in Sydney in March.

"Well done on reaching tomorrow’s final, you’ve once again set the benchmark for performance at an ICC World Cup," said Flower.

"Best of luck for the final, the England men’s teams are supporting you every step of the way."

Kent County Cricket Club would like to echo those sentiments and wish Edwards, the Kent and England skipper, the best of luck in the competition show piece. We hope that Charlotte and the girls perform to their maximum and win the tournament!

Picture courtesy of www.arpics.co.uk