James Anderson believes England can win World Twenty20 in Caribbean

England may be the only major cricketing nation never to have won an ICC one-day trophy but James Anderson believes they have an excellent chance of ending this unhappy sequence at the World Twenty20, which starts on Friday. "If we can gel together as a team I see no reason why we can't win it," Anderson said shortly before flying to the Caribbean with his team-mates. "We've got a new-look squad, some guys who are less experienced but they do bring that element of excitement to the team. I think we have got a great chance." No England squad has ever set sail professing anything other than confidence that this time things will be different and Anderson was hardly likely to dwell on the fact that only Ireland, Kenya, Scotland and Bangladesh have a worse record in this tournament. Instead he echoed the thoughts of the England coach, Andy Flower, that the latest revamping of England's opening partnership could be key. "I think we've strengthened in the right areas. They [Michael Lumb and Craig Kieswetter] are new to the team and they could bring a fearless element to the top of the order, where you've got to make the most of the first six overs." Anderson rejected the notion that England already have a gap to make up with the rest of the world in cricket's newest form: "I wouldn't say we've been left behind but we don't play as much as everyone else, which does make it that harder, and we've got to click as a team when we get together." This is not strictly true – England have played 25 Twenty20 internationals, West Indies 21 and India 20 – but even Flower warned at the weekend that his players may be "undercooked", having only four matches under their belts since August. Anderson disagrees: "I don't see it that way at all. We've had guys at the IPL who have been playing for two months. And we've got a couple of warm-up matches to settle in and work out how we're going to play well enough to win the tournament." Kevin Pietersen has expressed concern at England's leading bowlers – including Anderson – making themselves unavailable to play in India just before a major tournament but Anderson believes the wear and tear of England's schedule left little option. "Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann have played all winter and needed a break. Personally I needed a rest for my knee. There wasn't that opportunity for us to go to the IPL this year. In future years it probably would help." Anderson is "pretty confident" the pain in his right knee has now relented. "I've bowled 80-odd overs in the last two championship games without any pain. Now I'm just really looking forward to getting out to the Caribbean." A final obstacle was overcome with the delivery of Anderson's errant passport, left at home before Lancashire's championship match in Chelmsford and delivered, finally, by Broad. England will be hoping for a few similar feats of seat-of-the-pants synchronicity from their senior bowlers over the next three weeks.