England will allow themselves to give in to fatigue only after their work at this World Cup is done.

That, of course, could easily be today - because should they lose to West Indies at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, they will be eliminated before the knockout stages.

Conversely, it may not be until April 2 when England could still win this competition for the first time in their history.

The omens were not especially encouraging as they entered their must-win Group B match stalked by ill health and inconsistency.

But Andrew Strauss, himself recovered in the nick of time from a stomach bug, made it clear his team will not be citing the exhaustion of an arduous Ashes and World Cup winter for any of their off-colour performances.
"We have been on the road for a long time," he said.

"But one thing I would say is that fatigue is the last thing on our minds.
"We have potentially four games of cricket to play before a decent break.
"We know what the prize is and we are determined to make the most of our opportunity to take that prize."

Many have suggested England's sub-Continental campaign is inevitably compromised by the previous four months of travel and high-profile competition.

But their captain said: "It's just not an issue for us at the moment.
"I know a lot of people are talking about it, but it won't be an issue for us until right at the end of the tournament."

Strauss has also been prepared to confront the fact that England's precarious position is largely of their own making. "We've lost two games we shouldn't have lost.

"We've put ourselves in this situation, which is disappointing.
"We're not going to hide away from that. We've played some good cricket and we've played some poor cricket."

None of the above has stopped him looking on the bright side, though.
"The equation is very clear to us. We have to win this game. There's no reason for us to doubt ourselves at this stage.

"We should go out and play good, aggressive, attacking cricket and hope that is enough to send us through.

"Once every team gets into the last eight, then every game is a must-win game. I have every confidence we will be able to do that."

Strauss even senses a vulnerability in today's opponents, who have won their last three matches.

"The key is that they haven't been put under real pressure other than the South Africa game, so we must put them under pressure from ball one and see how they respond."

West Indies captain Darren Sammy unsurprisingly sees things differently.
"It's a good time to play England," he said.

"Obviously they've been on the road for a long time.

"Apparently they've been home for four days in five months.

"That's something that will be on their minds.

"In order for them to stay, they've got to win ... or maybe some of them will want to go home to their families. You never know."