Cricket world cup: Sickness hits England team for must-win final match

But captain Andrew Strauss has recovered from a stomach upset and insists his team will play without fear as they seek to stay involved in a competition they have never won in nine previous attempts.

Strauss and spinner Graeme Swann were able to practise yesterday, having been struck down with gastric complaints over the previous 48 hours. Yet, even as he was delivering that news, Strauss reported Ajmal Shahzad as the latest to succumb to illness.

With James Anderson apparently thought by management to be urgently due a rest after his exhausting winter schedule, England's options may be compromised further should anyone else fall ill before the teams are exchanged this afternoon.

Anderson's wild inconsistency has been in stark contrast to his reliability and effectiveness on England's successful Ashes tour. He is hardly the only individual to have lurched to extremes, or failed to produce his best, in a stuttering campaign which has featured a win against South Africa at today's venue and a tie against tournament favourites India but also defeats to Ireland and Bangladesh.

By those means, England have put themselves in the predicament of needing to win at all costs in their final Group B match to have any chance of reaching the quarter-finals.

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Strauss said: "It is a one-off and, we hope, the start of a series of one-offs. I think the juices are flowing and there are a few butterflies in the stomach - which is a great sign for us. We have done well in big matches over the last couple of years.

"The equation is very simple, and this isn't a time to go into our shells - we have to get out there and take the West Indies on. I'm genuinely excited about it. We have nothing to fear - and I think we can go out there and play some good cricket tomorrow and, we hope, book our passage into the next phase of the tournament."

Strauss declined to confirm pace spearhead Anderson will be dropped. "Jimmy has had a tough time in some of the games in the World Cup so far, but we all know what a qualify performer he is. He has done it for us over and over again during the course of the winter and previously, so his name is very much in the mix for selection.

"All the bowlers will have question marks as to what is the right attack and right balance to the attack. That happens every time we pick a side."

England can be expected to play two specialist spinners at a venue where both Swann and the seamers found significant help in that much-needed win over South Africa.

"You must think about the best way of getting those left-handers out," added Strauss. "They have four in their top five, and then lower down the order it is mainly right-handers.

We have some bowlers who are better at left-handers - and we need them and also guys who can trouble the right-handers later on."