COMMENT: KENYA may be more famed for its success on the athletics track than its cricketing prowess, but they are more than capable of running England's World Cup chances off the tracks today.

Kenya reached the semi-finals of the last World Cup - further than England have reached since 1992 - and they will fancy their chances of success against an England side that has scored more headlines than runs so far in this tournament.

There is no doubt that England are the better team on paper, but the cauldron of what is effectively a World Cup knockout game is a great leveller.

On the basis of their opening two matches, England's problems lie in the fact that they haven't got a bowler who can take wickets in the middle of an innings.

Liam Plunkett and James Anderson can nip a couple out early when the ball is new, but they seem to struggle to even control the ball when they come back into the attack mid-innings.

Against New Zealand, Jacob Oram and Scott Styris were able to dig their side out of trouble and put on a match-winning partnership for the Kiwi's and even Canada's batsmen eeked out some runs against us.

Sri Lanka have Lasith Malinga, New Zealand have Shane Bond and Australia have Glenn McGrath. If you look around the world, all the favourites have somebody capable of de-railing a batting line-up.

However, it would help the bowlers if England's batsmen could get into their stride and put some big totals on the board. Big targets mean any lull in the chase brings pressure, and pressure brings wickets. This is something England can exploit even if they don't have supreme firepower in the bowling department.

It will be interesting to see the response of Andrew Flintoff after his much publicised troubles last weekend. Flintoff can either prove to be the real champion we all believe he is, or disappoint a nation.

I expect a galvanised Freddie to bowl fast, and hit big - starting against Kenya. The results could be spectacular.