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Petersen brings experience

Johannesburg - Proteas opener, Alviro Petersen, is hoping his experience of English conditions will be to his team’s advantage in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy taking place in England and Wales in June.

Petersen was selected as the replacement for Graeme Smith, who will miss the competition because of an ankle injury.

"The Champions Trophy obviously brings different pressures from the county set-up," he said.

"But being in England and knowing conditions over here will hopefully help me from an experience point of view, even my knowledge of the grounds may also be an advantage."

He was speaking from Taunton in the UK, where has been in prolific form for Somerset County Cricket Club. 

He admits he will take a fresh approach to the eight-team competition, which he hopes can revive his 17-match ODI career.

"It’s a great opportunity to improve my ODI standing in the team," he said.

"I have played 17 ODI’s and I’ve batted from positions one to seven, there wasn’t a set plan when it came to ODI cricket in the past.

I think having played around the order will help me from an experience point of view, especially in terms of what to expect in different positions.

It’s a great opportunity for me to once again meet the challenges that I have set for myself and also the challenges that other people set."

Petersen was full of optimism for the potential the squad can achieve, as they aim for South Africa’s first piece of ICC silverware since 1998.

"It’s an exciting period, there are world-class players in that team,” he said. “Just looking from the outside in, I see so much potential and it’s a matter of the guys focusing on what needs to be done rather than all of the noise that sometimes comes from different angles.

It’s important that we focus on the smaller things and on how we are going to achieve those things."
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