Andrew Strauss must consider himself unfortunate. After leading his team in the Tests and the ODIs in the West Indies, the England captain has been overlooked in the 30 man probable list for the ICC World Twenty20 championships to be staged at home.
An Andrew Flintoff hat trick capped off the one day internationals in the West Indies on a happier note for the touring team. England even had Andrew Strauss score a century after playing in an ODI in over two years.
But in a bitter disappointment, the ECB omitted his name from the 30 man list for the second ICC World Twenty20 championships to be staged in the UK in June. The statement to the effect stated that while Strauss did a fantastic job leading the England team in the Tests and ODIs, the selection committee continued to doubt his ability to play Twenty20 or adapt sufficiently enough to merit a place. They have though found place for the forty year old Shaun Udal in the list. There is now the possibility that either Kevin Pietersen or Kent captain Robert Key could lead the squad.
For Strauss, the renaissance will now be restricted to now playing hosts to the West Indies and then, preparing for the Ashes on how things go with the series against the West Indies.
The 30 probables for the England team: Kevin Pietersen, Kabir Ali, James Anderson, Gareth Batty, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Stephen Davies, Joe Denly, James Foster, Andrew Flintoff, Stephen Harmison, Rob Key, Sajid Mahmood, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Eoin Morgan, Graham Napier, Samit Patel, Liam Plunkett, Matt Prior, Adil Rashid, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, Chris Tremlett, Shaun Udal, Chris Woakes, Luke Wright.
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