Collingwood likely to become England’s Twenty20 captain

May 13th, 2009 LONDON - England all rounder Paul Collingwood claims the team is bristling with confidence after hammering West Indies in the first Test at Lord's last week. The Durham all-rounder believes England is back on track.

May 13th, 2009 LONDON - All rounder Paul Collingwood insists that England's cosy club is history and has been abolished under coach Andy Flower's leadership. Previous England regimes were accused of consistently picking players on reputation, not form.

May 9th, 2009 LAHORE - All rounder Shahid Afridi may be appointed Pakistan cricket team's captain for the forthcoming Twenty20 World Cup in England, as incumbent captain Younis Khan is upset over his slump in form and with defeat against the Australians. Acccording to sources, Khan is thinking about quitting the captaincy.

May 6th, 2009 LONDON - England captain Paul Collingwood fears that players will not like to endure the 'mental torture' of Test cricket, if the financial rewards of playing for the country does not match the lucrative pay package of a Twenty20 tournament like the Indian Premier League (IPL). 'I gave up the (England) one-day captaincy (in July last year) because it was affecting my Test game and I wanted to keep my Test place.

May 5th, 2009 LONDON - England Twenty20 captain Paul Collingwood believes that future generations of players could choose to play T20 cricket rather than go through the 'mental torture' of an Ashes series. In a major feature interview in the June issue of The Wisden Cricketer magazine, Collingwood says: "My generation saw Test cricket and playing in the Ashes as the ultimate.

May 2nd, 2009 LONDON - England coach Andy Flower persuaded Paul Collingwood to become captain of the team's World Twenty20 squad, weeks after he insisted that he would never lead England again. Flower, appointed last month as full-time team director, persuaded him to change his mind.

May 1st, 2009 LONDON - After he resigned as the England captain nine months ago, Paul Collingwood has been again given the charge to lead the team in the Twenty20 World Cup. The 32-year-old, who has a contract with Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League, admitted the temporary nature of the job persuaded him to resume the captaincy.

April 27th, 2009 LONDON - All rounder Paul Collingwood has been persuaded to captain England in this summer's World Twenty20. His appointment, which will be confirmed on Friday, shows England's confused plight in the shortest form of the game, reports The Sun.nitially, he was adamant he did not want to lead his country again after his form plummeted during his year as one-day skipper.

April 18th, 2009 LONDON - One of England's finest Twenty20 minds and captain of Kent, Robert Key, believes that the Indian Premier League (IPL) might just help England win back the Ashes. Key argues that if England are to have any chance of success in June's World Twenty20, then the country's top players must get more practice in the shortest form of the game - and where better than the IPL? "There is the potential for England to be a very good Twenty20 side.

April 17th, 2009 LONDON - Hampshire all-rounder and captain Dimitri Mascarenhas has said he would love to lead England in the ICC World Twenty20, especially after learning so much about captaincy from Shane Warne. Mascarenhas, 31, who is in South Africa to play under Warne for the Rajasthan Royals in the relocated Indian Premier League, was quoted by The Telegraph as saying that he felt he could do a good job especially after a year in charge of Hampshire, after Warne left the county.

April 7th, 2009 LONDON - Kent skipper Rob Key has emerged as a front runner to be England's Twenty20 captain after Andrew Strauss was dramatically axed from the list of probables. Key tops the list for World Twenty20 event because he is a sharp thinker, aggressive batsman and a respected leader, The Sun reported.

April 6th, 2009 LONDON - England cricket captain Andrew Strauss was not included in the World Twenty20 with selectors likely to take some time before announcing a captain for the June tournament. Rob Key and Dimitri Mascarenhas are among those speculated to take over, while England chief selector Geoff Miller has admitted that Andrew Flintoff will also be considered.

March 27th, 2009 LONDON - Disappointed at England's performance in the West Indies, Kevin Pietersen wants to return home as soon as possible. Pietersen said that England's tour of the Caribbean has been 'soul-destroying.' 'I am at the end of my tether now.

March 19th, 2009 LONDON - English selectors have snubbed Kevin Pietersen once again and named Paul Collingwood to lead the side for ODI series against West Indies in place of injured skipper Andrew Strauss. The move has ended Pietersen's hopes of getting another chance to lead the side, even as a stand-in captain, The Sun reports.

January 22nd, 2009 LONDON - England cricketers rejoiced after their cricket board gave them the go-ahead to take three weeks off for the Indian Premier League (IPL), ending a months-old standoff between players and the game's administrators. Allrounders Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff are expected to lead the way for English cricketers headed for the IPL auction after having to sit out the opening Twenty20 championship on account of a clash in dates and an abortive bid by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to set up a rival tournament.