Dubai: With six months to go before the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 comes back to the sub-continent after a gap of nearly 15 years, the International Cricket Council (ICC) launched the countdown by announcing fixtures of the warm-up matches ahead of the tournament.
Altogether 14 warm-up matches will be played across the three host countries from February 12-18 with Bengaluru, Chennai, Chittagong, Colombo, Dhaka, Nagpur and Pallekele acting as host cities.
Each of the 14 competing sides will play two warm-up matches with four-time and reigning world champions Australia taking on India and South Africa on February 13 and 15, respectively, in Bengaluru.
Sri Lanka, the 1996 winners and one of the co-hosts, will go head-to-head with the Netherlands and the West Indies on February 12 and 16 in Pallekele and Colombo, respectively. The 1992 champions Pakistan meet Bangladesh and England in Dhaka on February 15 and 18, respectively.
Looking ahead at the tournament, Paul Collingwood, England's ICC World Twenty20 winning captain has warned that any form of complacency in their Cup opener against the Dutch may prove costly. The two sides are scheduled to clash in Nagpur on February 22.
"While many may consider the opening match of an ICC Cricket World Cup against an associate country a relatively easy task, I can assure you the England team won't be taking its opening encounter with the Netherlands lightly. Having come up against them in our first-ever ICC World Twenty20 match in 2009 only to lose on the last ball of what was a thrilling match, we know only too well the dangers Associate countries can pose," he told ICC website.
Collingwood, whose side will also take on India, Ireland, South Africa, Bangladesh and the West Indies in group stages, believed his side will face some tough matches if they have to progress to the quarter-finals. "To underestimate any team at a World Cup is foolish given the commitment and desire every team displays when representing their nation in a global tournament," he said.
