DUBAI: New Zealand opener Martin Guptill on Wednesday stated that wickets in England, where the upcoming ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019 will be hosted, are reasonably flat and good for batting.
The 32-year-old has scored 652 runs in 14 games in England; including 189 not out off 155 balls against England. Guptill reckoned that pitches would be favourable for batsmen.
"I guess the way the One-Day Cup's gone over there (England), it has been reasonably flat wickets and good for batting, so there could be a few high scores. But then again, at the end of the day, you have got to bat well to get those scores, so we have just got to go out there and prepare well and make sure that we come out firing," ICC quoted Guptill, as saying.
"I do love playing over there. It is very similar conditions to home and you can be at ease over there and you can go out and just chill out when you are away from cricket. It is quite a fun place to play cricket, and the fans are great over there as well," he said.
Guptill was the architect behind New Zealand's best-ever World Cup campaign in 2015, guiding the team to its maiden tournament final. However, the Kiwis lost to eventual champions Australia by seven wickets at Melbourne.
The New Zealand opener topped the tournament charts with 547 runs at an average of 68.37 and scored unbeaten 237, the highest individual score at the World Cup, in the quarter-finals against West Indies.
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"I have just got to (go) out there and do my thing. If it is there, I will try to hit it; if it is not, I will look to either block it or get off strike. It sounds simple, doesn't it?" he said.
"But I can tell you it is not. It is about working with your partner at the other end - if he is going, I will try to get him on strike, and if I am going, he will try to get me on strike," Guptill added.
New Zealand will leave for England on May 19. The team will play against India on May 25 and West Indies on May 28 in the warm-ups, before opening its World Cup campaign against Sri Lanka on June 1 in Cardiff.