England run out of ideas

To turn again in Twenty20 cricket to Collingwood, a player who resigned from the one-day captaincy last summer on the same day as Michael Vaughan, smacks of a conservative choice in a game which demands liberation, and will not inspire confidence that England can win the tournament even with home advantage, writes David Hopps in the Guardian.

In a single mature moment last winter, Stuart Broad showed that he meant business for England. It was nothing he bowled, it was rather something he said. He told the Indian Premier League, who were undoubtedly willing to give this tall, handsome, blond, talented man a truckload of cash in return for three weeks' work, that he was frankly not interested, writes Stephen Brenkley in the Independent.

"The Ashes is a major reason that I didn't go to the IPL and a major reason why anyone plays for their country," he said. "You can make history. People have a passion for the Ashes and I think to the nation it's the most important thing in the cricketing world. It's the pinnacle. Beating the West Indies at home is brilliant but beating Australia gives massive national pride.