England name Twenty20 party06.08.2007 12:00 Sports England went for short-game specialists when they named their 15-man squad for next month's ICC World Twenty20 event. James Kirtley, Darren Maddy and Chris Schofield return after lengthy absences, while Vikram Solanki and Jeremy Snape are also recalled. Andrew Flintoff is back after ankle surgery and Luke Wright, the top scorer in domestic Twenty20 cricket this year, is the only uncapped man on the list. England face Zimbabwe in their opening game on 13 September in Cape Town. Interview: Chairman of selectors David Graveney "Having reviewed the team's performances in the Twenty20 matches against West Indies, the selectors felt it was necessary to include a number of players with greater experience of this format of the game in the squad to go to South Africa. "The World Twenty20 tournament will be new ground for everyone and we feel that combining players with experience of one-day international cricket together with Twenty20 'specialists' will give us the best possible chance of success," said chairman of selectors David Graveney. Warwickshire captain Maddy, who has scored more runs in Twenty20 than any other player, won the last of his eight one-day international caps in 2000. He played a key role in Leicestershire winning the domestic title in 2004 and 2006 before joining the Bears. Surrey leg-spinner Schofield, who slipped into minor counties cricket after playing in two Tests against Zimbabwe in 2000, was the leading wicket-taker in the domestic tournament this year. He was released by Lancashire in 2004 and turned out for Cheshire and Suffolk before a successful trial at Surrey at the end of last season. Snape was a bowling coach with England during the regular World Cup earlier this year, Solanki's last ODI was against Sri Lanka last year, and Kirtley's previous international action was a one-dayer in Guyana against West Indies in 2004. Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Michael Yardy and James Anderson, who all featured in the Windies games, have been overlooked. England squad for ICC World Twenty20: Paul Collingwood (Durham, capt), Ravi Bopara (Essex), Stuart Broad (Leicestershire), Andrew Flintoff (Lancashire), James Kirtley (Sussex), Darren Maddy (Warwickshire), Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire), Matt Prior (Sussex, wkt), Chris Schofield (Surrey), Owais Shah (Middlesex), Ryan Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire), Jeremy Snape (Leicestershire), Vikram Solanki (Worcestershire), Chris Tremlett (Hampshire), Luke Wright (Sussex).
Source: BBC Sportwww.alllee.com |
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