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Sidebottom fears for England future

Ryan Sidebottom has said he has 'nothing to prove' as an international player but conceded that regular injuries have forced him down the England pecking order in recent times

Cricinfo staff
13-Apr-2010
Ryan Sidebottom could feature for England in the World Twenty20, despite a luckless run of injuries over the last two years  •  Getty Images

Ryan Sidebottom could feature for England in the World Twenty20, despite a luckless run of injuries over the last two years  •  Getty Images

Ryan Sidebottom has said he has 'nothing to prove' as an international player but conceded that regular injuries have forced him down the England pecking order in recent times.
Sidebottom was a surprise inclusion in England's 15-man squad for the World Twenty20, which starts at the end of April in West Indies. He has been unable to complete a series since England hosted New Zealand in 2008 and was forced to fly home from England's recent tour to Bangladesh with a thigh problem he picked up in the first ODI in Dhaka in February.
In his absence Tim Bresnan and Steven Finn impressed and Sidebottom admits he now has to try and earn his place back. "There's nothing I have to prove as a player or a bowler, I've proved that I'm good enough to play at the highest level. [But] the likes of Finn and Bresnan have come in and done pretty well, so I've got to keep going and try to push them out of the side.
"Everybody knows what I'm capable of. I'm not the fastest bowler, but I offer accuracy and swing, and I put batsmen under pressure. If [England] need my experience then I'm here."
Sidebottom has played just one Test match in the last 12 months, when he was surprisingly called-up to replace Graham Onions for the final Test against South Africa at The Wanderers. England lost heavily and Sidebottom was unable to make a significant impact. His performance prompted suggestions that his pace was significantly down from when he led England's attack so successfully in 2008.
Yet Sidebottom insists that rather than his pace suffering from injury, there is instead a lack of consistency in his bowling due to the disruption caused by the string of back, hip, groin and Achilles injuries he has endured. "Nothing has changed in my action and my pace hasn't changed," he said. "I just need to get back into [match] action. I don't think there's much difference at all. What I have found tough is constantly stopping and starting again with injuries.
"As a bowler you need rhythm. When I was playing regularly for England, I didn't worry about anything. But recently, I've played one game, been 12th man and then tried to get back in the team. It's not been easy to find rhythm."
Sidebottom hopes to take some momentum into the World Twenty20 by bowling plenty of overs for Nottinghamshire as they begin their Championship campaign against Kent on Thursday. He bowled 18 overs for Nottinghamshire in a warm-up game against Durham MCCU, collecting 3 for 48 in 18 overs.
Mick Newell, the Nottinghamshire coach, thinks Sidebottom needs overs under his belt to be at his best but says Sidebottom has to sustain the intensity he showed between 2007 and 2008. "Ryan likes to bowl, even though it might not look like that when he's pulling his hair out. He's not bowled enough overs, whether it's in nets or matches, because of the injuries he's picked up.
"International cricket is played at a higher intensity than county cricket. He did well for the first 18 months but he's suffered a little bit with that of late. He's got to stay at that higher intensity the whole time. But he wants to do well with England for another couple of years yet."