England proved at the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 that they are happy to make late changes to selection plans for this format, if not others. Impressed by the power hitting of Michael Lumb and Craig Kieswetter in a warm-up match between England and their shadow team, the pair were installed as opening partners on the eve of an event they played a big part in England winning.

It is for this reason that plenty of county players would have been hopeful when the squad for Sri Lanka was announced last month. But in fact the squad contained no surprises, with the memory of the struggles experienced by domestic T20 specialists in the inaugural event in 2007 perhaps still fresh. Nonetheless, some men will be justifiably disappointed at being left out.

Kevin Pietersen is the most notable absentee, but there are others who have T20 records that demand respect. Only four men have scored more T20 runs than Owais Shah, with a fare bulk of this 3,952-run haul coming in the IPL. Such experience in conditions that will be similar in Sri Lanka should be hard to ignore and would have an impact on the T20 World cup betting, but the selectors see T20 as a young man's game and were never likely to go back to an unathletic player, dropped three years ago, who turns 34 next month.

This mindset is highlighted by the presence of Danny Briggs in the squad. The 21-year-old slow left-armer is uncapped at T20 level, but did make a favourable impression in his sole One Day International appearance, against Pakistan in February and undoubtedly has a bright international future ahead of him.

However, he has been no more than a solid performer in Hampshire's successful T20 team this year and is perhaps fortunate to get the nod ahead of the more experienced Gareth Batty and James Tredwell, who also have superior batting in their favour. Fellow stalwarts Chris Nash and Dimitri Mascarenhas have again impressed this year, but the selectors are largely loyal to the players who have served Stuart Broad pretty well in recent months.

Click on the image for the 1024x768 size view. Ah, I'm knackered, never spent so much time on a wallpaper!

Currently, I'm reading Coming Back To Me: The Autobiography of Marcus Trescothick. The best thing is that he has been totally frank and honest while writing the book. Unlike Gibbs, he has not tried to make it dramatic. It's just dramatic because of how his life has been. He has mentioned a lot of cricketers but Jimmy Anderson has been mentioned the most!

Other Wallpapers:

• Steven Finn Wallpaper! 
• Eoin Morgan Wallpaper!
• Jimmy and Belly Wallpaper! 
• Alastair Cook Wallpaper!
• More Wallpapers...

A good way to know a bit about English cricketers would be through chinese zodiac. Most of you must be thinking that this kind of stuff is fun but inaccurate. Well, this is not like western zodiac and I've found it to be mostly true. It probably isn't 100% accurate, one reason being that people change. And you don't know where the original theory is written because it's somewhat different on websites, books, newspapers.

Rat
Forthright, tenacious, intense, meticulous, charismatic, sensitive, intellectual, industrious, charming, eloquent, sociable, artistic, shrewd. Can be manipulative, vindictive, self-destructive, envious, mendacious, venal, obstinate, critical, over-ambitious, ruthless, intolerant, scheming.

• Alastair Cook
  

Ox
Dependable, ambitious, calm, methodical, born leader, patient, hardworking, conventional, steady, modest, logical, resolute, tenacious. Can be stubborn, dogmatic, hot-tempered, narrow-minded, materialistic, rigid, demanding.

• Luke Wright
• Tim Bresnan
• Ravi Bopara
• Ajmal Shahzad
• Liam Plunkett

Tiger
Unpredictable, rebellious, colorful, powerful, passionate, daring, impulsive, vigorous, stimulating, sincere, affectionate, humanitarian, generous. Can be restless, reckless, impatient, quick-tempered, obstinate, selfish, aggressive, moody.

• Steven Davies
• Eoin Morgan
• Stuart Broad
• Joe Denly

Rabbit
Gracious, good friend, kind, sensitive, soft-spoken, amiable, elegant, reserved, cautious, artistic, thorough, tender, self-assured, shy, astute, compassionate, lucky, flexible. Can be moody, detached, superficial, self-indulgent, opportunistic, stubborn.

• Craig Kieswetter

Dragon
Magnanimous, stately, vigorous, strong, self-assured, proud, noble, direct, dignified, eccentric, intellectual, fiery, passionate, decisive, pioneering, artistic, generous, loyal. Can be tactless, arrogant, imperious, tyrannical, demanding, intolerant, dogmatic, violent, impetuous, brash.

• Paul Collingwood
• Adil Rashid

Snake
Deep thinker, wise, mystic, graceful, soft-spoken, sensual, creative, prudent, shrewd, elegant, cautious, responsible, calm, strong, constant, purposeful. Can be loner, bad communicator, possessive, hedonistic, self-doubting, distrustful, mendacious, suffocating, cold.

• Steven Finn
• Andrew Flintoff
• Andrew Strauss
• Ryan Sidebottom

Horse
Cheerful, popular, quick-witted, changeable, earthy, perceptive, talkative, agile—mentally and physically, magnetic, intelligent, astute, flexible, open-minded. Can be fickle, arrogant, childish, anxious, rude, gullible, stubborn.

• Owais Shah

Sheep
Righteous, sincere, sympathetic, mild-mannered, shy, artistic, creative, gentle, compassionate, understanding, mothering, peaceful, generous, seeks security. Can be moody, indecisive, over-passive, worrier, pessimistic, over-sensitive, complainer, weak-willed.

• Graeme Swann
• Michael Lumb

Monkey
Inventor, motivator, improviser, quick-witted, inquisitive, flexible, innovative, problem solver, self-assured, sociable, artistic, polite, dignified, competitive, objective, factual, intellectual. Can be egotistical, vain, arrogant, selfish, reckless, snobbish, deceptive, manipulative, cunning, jealous, suspicious.

• Kevin Pietersen
• Michael Yardy
• Michael Carberry
• Mark Davies

Rooster
Acute, neat, meticulous, organized, self-assured, decisive, conservative, critical, perfectionist, alert, zealous, practical, scientific, responsible. Can be over zealous and critical, puritanical, egotistical, abrasive, proud, opinionated, given to empty bravado.

• Jonathan Trott
• Chris Tremlett
• Sajid Mahmood

Dog
Honest, intelligent, straightforward, loyal, sense of justice and fair play, attractive, amicable, unpretentious, sociable, open-minded, idealistic, moralistic, practical, affectionate, sensitive, easy going. Can be cynical, lazy, cold, judgmental, pessimistic, worrier, stubborn, quarrelsome.

• Ian Bell
• Matt Prior
• James Anderson
• Monty Panesar
• James Tredwell
• Graham Onions

Find your and other English cricketers' Chinese Zodiac, see how you match!

Wallpapers: Jimmy and Belly Wallpaper!
                   Jimmy Anderson Wallpaper
                   James Anderson Cool Blue Wallpaper
                   James Anderson Wallpaper
                   Eoin Morgan Wallpaper! 

Recent Posts (As on 2nd Oct '10: The Ones Who Blossomed In The County Championship 2010
                     Best Times For English Cricket?
                     Tim Bresnan, Chris Tremlett, Monty Panesar picked for Ashes
                     England Drubs Pakistan to Finish Summer On A High

Popular Posts: England cricketers on twitter!
                       Everything Goes The Notts Way And Not So Surprisingly, Freddie Retires
                       World Twenty20 Champions beat Pakistan effortlessly
                       The worst Twenty20?
                       Astonishment at its best, daring ECB drops Kevin Pietersen

Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad and Craig Kieswetter go back to the 60s...

 while Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Eoin Morgan turn into racers...

Surprising everyone, Strauss won the toss and elected to bowl first. James Anderson started off well and Bresnan leaked runs. By the end of over 9, Australia were 45/0, Anderson had given 11 in 5 overs, Bressie 34 in 4 overs! I don't know a lot about bowling but I know a few ways of taking wickets. If you keep it tight from both ends, the batsmen will get frustated and they will try to hit you, giving you a chance to get them out. Yardy got the breakthrough. A sharp stumping by Kieswetter off Swann, got rid of Punter. It took England a while to take the third wicket of Watson for 61. Watson rarely gets past 50s so this must be an achievement. Then England kept taking wickets at regular wickets and the Australians never seemed to get out of trouble. Anderson and Broad wrapped the Australian innings for 212 by taking 4 wickets in 3 overs. Awesome stuff from Anderson.
                                                       Kieswetter was bowled by Tait in the first over of the innings. Young lad gone but we have a long batting to come. England would chase this modest total easily. I didn't watch much of England's batting thinking that they would chase it comfortably and slowly. During this time, I watched a bit of a movie, England vs Germany, surfed the net with an eye on the score. I only took interest in the match when England were 7 down. And I left the computer for tv when Swann got out. When Broad got out, I really thought Australia would take it from here and whitewashing plans would be over. But Bressie, the Yorky took us home in Lanky. We've better bowlers than him but he is gonna play some matches now. What a win. The first close match of the series. 3-0. Swann got the Man Of The Match award with his 4 wickets. The ever smiling Strauss is happy with the win and his 87. Cheers!

So, England have won an ICC event finally. Now, no one can say that my team have never won an ICC event during banters. Sorry for the late post, didn't have internet. And I could only watch a bit of the semi-final and final live. Watched the earlier games though. I really enjoyed watching them this time, Morgan, Wright, KP and Kieswetter were awesome. Others played well too and Lumb and Kieswetter scored almost the same in some matches but I really enjoyed Kieswetter's reactions while stumping. The victory is rather unbelievable and pleasant. I got to know about it through a news channel the next morning. I've seen England play superbly and lost many times. Referring to the post, "England vs Bangladesh 2nd ODI" I would like to say that Bangladesh wasn't the better side in that match, Morgan proved that England is the better side. No one wants their team to lose but the truth is that the love for your team increases when your team plays well and loses. Now I know why I love England so much. Bangladesh has moments of awesome play in many matches but they fail to win, except against Zimbabwe off course. Bangladesh had the highest percentage of winning ODIs last year. They played mostly against Zimbabwe. Looking forward to the game against Scotland. Cheers for the World Twenty20 win. Until next time, take care.

The things to watch out for in this series are how new captain Alastair Cook does his job, how new guy Kieswetter plays and where Jimmy Anderson is. I was looking for him during the first match but couldn't find him. No, I didn't forget that he is rested. I just saw someone near the rope and wondered if he is jimmy. It's been so long since he played and he won't play till about May 3rd. The new guy Kieswetter, who made 143 in the 1st warm-up, looked impressive while fielding but not while batting. He is a wicket keeper but he fields well, looked like Irish Cutie Morgan when he was wearing sunglasses. Although these matches are expected to be one sided, they weren't really boring. Alastair panicked a bit. Sidebottom bowled the 37th over, Broad 38th, Collingwood 39th, Swann 40th, Wright 41st, Swann 42nd, Broad 43rd, Bresnan 44th, Broad 45th, Sidebottom 46th. I was waiting for Wright to bowl. I thought may be Cook has forgotten that he bowls. Why did he bring Pietersen before Wright? And only one over for Wright even though he got a wicket? Perhaps at the end of 40th over, he looked around and thought, "who else bowls in our team, who, who does, oh yeah, Wright does!" I remember that this wasn't his 1st match as England captain, he captained against SA in a Twenty20 too but the difference was that Anderson was probably the bowling captain. When Anderson changed Cook's fielding position, a commentator said, "This is the first time I've someone telling a captain where to field." I guess they can work together but that's not gonna happen in this series. Cook's ability to bat with a good strike rate have always been doubted but he hasn't really disappointed in ODIs. Sunday was no different, he scored 64 off 68. In the 2nd warm-up game, he scored 52 off 50 and hit a six too! Yeah, the opposition is Bangladesh but he has done well against good International teams, Counties too. I think, among the minnows, European teams like Ireland, Scotland bowl well while Asian teams bat well.