Another chance to fill the empty trophy cabinet

Click here to listen to Ian Chappell's assessment of England.

Overview

It seemed at one stage, while the skies were thick with Icelandic volcano dust, that England might have to row to the Caribbean to take part in the World Twenty20 - and a fleet of St Lucian pedalos were believed to been put on standby for the occasion. In the end, their travel arrangements passed without a hitch, but having made it to their destination, England's hardest task will be to remain there until the tournament's conclusion. After all, they are, famously, the only senior nation never to have won an ICC global trophy.

After 35 years of failed campaigns, England no longer regard that fact as an open wound, but when it comes to the longer-form tournaments, they generally conduct their campaigns with an undisguised air of resignation - such as occurred during the 2007 World Cup on these very shores. But this short sharp shock of an event could be much more to their liking, with brevity of the tournament appealing to England's puzzling ability to raise their game from a standing start - as they achieved on home soil last summer with memorable wins against India and the eventual champions, Pakistan.

But offering predictions in Twenty20 cricket is a mug's game - after all, who on earth imagined that Pakistan could rise above their traumas and win that emotionally charged final against Sri Lanka in 2009? Suffice to say, England have a chance, and what a chance it would be at the start of a massive year that culminates in the Ashes and the World Cup next winter. But then, so too do all 12 teams. Even Afghanistan. All it takes is a flash of timely inspiration.

Slowly improving … although "slowly" is the operative word. England were a shambles at the inaugural event in 2007, where they banked on specialists from their domestic Twenty20 Cup (some of whom hadn't played international cricket for the best part of a decade - and it showed). In 2009, however, they came within a rain ruling of the semi-finals, but not before plumbing the depths in their defeat against the Netherlands, and since then, they've not lost a series in three attempts. Mind you, one of those was a washout against Australia, and another featured a record-breaking pummelling at the hands of South Africa.

Naivety has been England's downfall in previous World Twenty20s, often as a consequence of the limited opportunities their top players have had to play 20-over cricket - with the summer ODI calendar invariably clashing with the domestic schedule. That's beginning to change now, and with five key batsmen having sampled this year's IPL atmosphere - Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Ravi Bopara, Eoin Morgan and Michael Lumb - the rhythms of the format are less likely to catch them cold.

That said, the most crucial character could well be a man who missed out on an IPL contract. Confidence is a quality that can't be taught, and Graeme Swann possesses that attribute in spades. His guile and deception with the ball might even be matched, if Collingwood is to be believed, by a spanking role in the top-order, where his penchant for hitting on the up and through the covers could well be utilized during those problematic Powerplay overs. In the opener's berth, Craig Kieswetter's power could provide the sort of impetus not seen in England limited-over cricket since Marcus Trescothick left the field of play.

Even when he's short of his best form, it's hard to keep Kevin Pietersen from the limelight. An arduous tour of Bangladesh gave way to an up-and-down IPL campaign in which he finished at the top of the tournament averages, but not before he had been dropped from a highly competitive Bangalore batting line-up. His presence and combative batting will be critical to England's fortunes at No. 3, although he might well be missing from the sharp end of the competition. His wife, Jessica, is eight months' pregnant, and the due date is slap-bang in the middle of May.

Whatever opening combination England settle upon - and at present Kieswetter and Lumb are the likely lads - it will be their 16th different pairing in 26 Twenty20 internationals since the format's inception. Luke Wright and Ravi Bopara, who opened throughout the 2009 tournament, are the most prolific pairing to date with five appearances together.