Collingwood ready for Australia challenge

Paul Collingwood, the England ODI captain, is confident of his side's chances against Australia in the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa. England have been grouped with Australia and Zimbabwe in the first round of the tournament beginning on September 11.

"It's always a game [England v Australia] that everybody looks forward to [playing] and watching as well," Collingwood said. "From a player's point of view, it's great to play against the best sides and we'll all be looking forward to playing against Australia." The two sides will first meet on September 14.

Australia have played only five Twenty20 internationals but Collingwood said that their lack of experience would not give them a disadvantage. England have played Australia twice, and beat them comprehensively in at Southampton 2005 but lost at Sydney in 2006-07.

"Most sides will be going in pretty equal - they've [Australia] obviously got a lot of skills and power so they're going to be a massive threat. I'm sure they'll come up with plans of how they're going to attack the Twenty20 format - it'll be interesting to see. We'll go in with our own ideas and see who comes out on top."

Quick thinking, according to Collingwood, will play a vital part in the Twenty20 format and he said he was up to the challenge as captain. "I think you have to be very well prepared as captain, certainly on field placings, where you're going to bowl, have a Plan B and sometimes even a Plan C. As I noted against West Indies a few weeks back you can have a Plan B and it's amazing how quickly the batsmen get a hold of the Plan B! It is hectic, a bit mind-boggling at times."