Cricket world cup: Muttiah Muralitharan 'will be fit' for quarter-final with England

Murali, the game's most successful bowler both in Test and one-day formats, suffered the injury during the final Group A match against New Zealand while batting. The wily off-spinner battled through pain to pick up four wickets to propel Sri Lanka to a thumping 112-run win in that match.

But Sri Lanka coach Trevor Bayliss is hopeful that Muralitharan will be in good shape to face England at Colombo's Premadasa Stadium.

"I'm sure he will be fine on game day," Bayliss said yesterday. "I'm fairly confident that he will play and he is (also] pretty confident that he will play."

England, meanwhile, have revealed Paul Collingwood is to have keyhole knee surgery at the end of the World Cup campaign.

Collingwood, 34, who retired from Test cricket after this winter's Ashes, has been struggling to rediscover his best form in one-day internationals. He had scans on both his knees during England's stuttering progress in Group B but will be available for selection for the quarter-final against Sri Lanka.

Surgery will immediately follow the tournament, and it is thought likely Collingwood will therefore miss a significant amount of the Indian Premier League, having been bought this year by the Rajasthan Royals.

An England and Wales Cricket Board spokesman confirmed the plan for Collingwood's operation, but made it clear he will remain with the team as long as they are involved in the World Cup. Collingwood played in four of England's six group matches, but was dropped for the crucial victories over South Africa and West Indies in Chennai.

ECB chief medical officer Nick Peirce said: "Paul felt some discomfort in his left knee during the group stages of the World Cup, and a precautionary scan ahead of England's match against South Africa showed no significant damage. However, further assessment suggests a loose piece of cartilage floating in his knee that will require surgical removal.

"We'll be able to establish a definitive rehabilitation timescale following surgery - but we expect Paul to make a full recovery in due course."

England are aware they only sneaked through Group B and know they need to rediscover a long-lost consistency if they are to win their next three matches and be crowned world champions. But wicketkeeper-batsman Matt Prior insists that the stuttering nature of the campaign so far will matter little if England can make the necessary improvements in time.

"We have fought very hard as a unit," he explained. "We're at the sexy part of the competition - the knockout stages - and everything that has gone on before is irrelevant.

"There are no points boards to look at - it's win or go home - and that in itself is going to bring a lot of adrenaline and a lot of energy to the team.We have three games to win and we are world champions."

The great Australia team of the past decade twice followed Ashes victory with World Cup success in the same winter. But England are well into uncharted territory.

"To win an Ashes and to win a World Cup in a winter is something quite phenomenal," added Prior. "It's something all these guys in this dressing-room are fighting to do. Anything short of that, and we'll be disappointed."