ST JOHN'S, Antigua:

RIVAL CAPTAINS Chris Gayle and Kevin Pietersen were, naturally, full of optimism yesterday as their respective sides rounded off preparations for this evening's 20/20 for 20 clash at the Stanford Cricket Ground.

While England team's involvement in the US$20 million event has sparked much debate back in Britain, Pietersen said his side was only looking forward to the big game.

"I just want to talk about cricket," the straight-shooting South Africa-born batsman said. "I don't want to talk about any of the nonsense that's happened this week.

Decent bowling attack

"We are here to play cricket, we are here to play the big game tomorrow and that's all I want to talk about," he said.

"If we do our things right, we have a pretty decent bowling attack and our batting is shaping up well, I think we'll be all right.

"I think we have an edge in experience (over the Stanford Superstars). At the end of the day, when you are playing on such a big stage - especially in 20/20 cricket, it comes down to who handles the pressure best, but anything can happen in 20/20 cricket."

Gayle said Thursday night's big win over Middlesex had been a morale-booster for his side.

Good all-round cricket

"I am feeling pretty good. I am confident but not overconfident," he said. "The way we played last night was brilliant.

"It was good all-round cricket so the guys are confident as well. We just mentioned there is one more game to go and hopefully we can get an even better performance than last night."

The Jamaican was noticeably surprised by the omission of paceman James Anderson from England's final XI.

"That's good, we are wary of him. He swings the ball around bit. Are you sure that's not a trick?" he asked.

- Tym Glaser