England v Kenya ~ Who would you bet on?

There might be some nerves building up at home but I am here to put you at ease. Don't worry, I can't see there being an upset from Kenya on Saturday.

If England play anywhere near as well as they can, they will beat Kenya convincingly. The Kenyans flattered to deceive against Canada and when they were asked to step it up against New Zealand, you could see the extra pace of the game caught them out. A full strength England will win.

New Zealand are in a situation where they could lose to Canada and still go through whereas England must win so there is a bit more pressure on the game. As long as England don't get too nervous and start thinking about going home then they should be absolutely fine. They should take the attack to Kenya and try to bully them as New Zealand did.

It has been a slow start for England but they always take time to get going. On tour they take time to adapt to conditions and historically they aren't that great a one-day side. If they are going to do something they will do it slowly. It would have been nice to have won that first game because it may be crucial taking points through to the Super Eights but England's best chance will be to mimic what they did in the CB Series when they surprised the Australians and New Zealanders, coming up on the inside.

Michael Vaughan said they were the dark horses and you just never know. If they get through to the Super Eights and they keep improving then they have got a chance.

England rarely look that good in the one-day game but they have shown at times how good they can be. Even in the CB Series they still had work to do. They need more hundreds from the batsmen and the new ball pairing is still young and inexperienced.

It has been said that the top three are all a bit similar - Ed Joyce, Michael Vaughan and Ian Bell - but the selectors made that call when they left Mal Loye out and they'll stick with it.

They have all looked good at times but they all need to get big scores. The sides that win World Cups, the best one-day sides in the world, have people like Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara, Chris Gayle and Jaques Kallis getting hundreds and England have only one century between their top three.

When you have a situation like that it will put pressure on Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood and Andrew Flintoff in the middle order. They are always coming in and trying to rebuild rather than express themselves like Craig McMillan and Scott Styris could for New Zealand against Kenya.

I think they will stick with Joyce at the top of the order and Andrew Strauss can only really come back in at number four. Joyce showed in the CB series that he can be a bit more positive and Strauss has struggled at the top of the innings. I wouldn't write him off, he is an exceptional player, but he has had a quiet time recently and will have to wait his turn.

The bottom line is that this is the side they have gone in with, it is too late for chopping and changing, and they need to get hundreds.

That is the top of the order though and there is a decision to be made lower down. I think they will be seriously considering playing Ravi Bopara as I write.

In a funny way the whole Flintoff incident has shown everyone that Bopara is a serious option on these pitches, possibly at the expense of Jamie Dalrymple, but he has done well with the bat and Duncan Fletcher and Vaughan won't be overly keen to leave him out.

Dalrymple hasn't bowled very well so far though. On wickets that have spun he has not been able to get through his 10 overs because the opposition have got after him and he has bowled both sides of the wicket. If he is going to play then Vaughan needs to get at least eight overs out of him, possibly even 10.

Bopara will be very seriously considered whether it be for the Kenya game or in the future. They will play it pitch by pitch, depending on how much they think it's going to turn. If it is a slightly quicker pitch they may go for Bopara for his seamers and also his batting - he is an exceptional batsman.

That is a decision for this weekend but whichever way they go, don't worry. England proved in that CB Series that you never write them off. They will have to play at their best to do anything in this tournament but they have five or six exceptional players in their side that might, just might, take them a long way.