As England’s squad for the cup is still being unveiled, the selectors have announced that Paul Collingwood is to be its captain. Collingwood on being asked to comment on it said, "I am really excited about captaining this squad as it will be in front of our own fans here in England... At the end of the recent Caribbean tour it was well known that I wanted some time to think it over but now I am looking forward to the tournament. We have a talented squad with some new faces and there is the added incentive for everyone of a Lord's final."

Collingwood also believes that being part of the IPL helped him immensely. He says this despite the fact that he hasn’t played a match for his team – the Delhi Daredevils – as yet. Thanks to IPL’s four foreigner limit, he was left cooling his heels on the bench. But he believes that just being there has been an immense boost: “It was excellent to be involved in IPL. The last three weeks have been so refreshing. I spoke to Ravi Bopara on the flight home and we both agreed that we had learned a lot.

"I would have learned more by being involved, but it was great to study the strategies, the tactics and the preparation that each individual uses. You don't normally get the chance to tap into those players. Being able to ask questions all the time, it is amazing what you can learn "It was a massive learning curve for me even though I wasn't directly involved. I just wish more of our bowlers could have been there."

Collingwood led his team in the 2007 T20 inaugural World Cup, but the team didn’t fare too well. However this year the selectors have had to go back to Collingwood, as they did not consider Strauss for the post, but they believe that they are not making a mistake.

England’s National selector Geoff Miller said: "The captaincy is always a difficult decision but we felt that was the right one. We thought long and hard about it and in the end we came up with Paul Collingwood, and I'm sure we've got that right.

"He's gleaned an awful lot on strategies and techniques at the IPL," added Miller. "He's a bright fella and we know his abilities. He's not played in the middle but he's been netting and practicing, and done a lot of preparation work. It's not been about learning to bat and bowl, it's how to invent and create, and he's quite excited.”

As for the rest of the squad, James Foster has been named as the wicket keeper; and Eoin Morgan who has proved his worth in the past couple of years also found a spot.

Squad: Paul Collingwood (Capt.), James Anderson, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Andrew Flintoff, James Foster, Robert Key, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Eoin Morgan, Graham Napier, Kevin Pietersen, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, Luke Wright.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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