When will luck favour England?

Lawrence Booth, in his blog The Spin in the Guardian, tries to figure out why England have faltered in limited-overs cricket since the early 90's.

For the rest of the time since England reached the last of their three World Cup finals 17 years ago, their one-day form in global competitions has veered from laughable to execrable with a bit of abominable thrown in for good measure. No playwright could have combined comedy, tragedy and farce more seamlessly.

Paul Weaver, also writing in the Guardian, spells out some of the reasons for Robert Key's selection in England's World Twenty20 squad, despite the batsman not being in the best touch.

He was always popular in the dressing room, especially with Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison, which may not have met with the former coach Duncan Fletcher's complete approval, and he had a nous for the game. Indeed, essentially a championship player, he reinvented himself as a batsman when he became captain of Kent in 2006 to embrace changes within the game.

Meanwhile, Nitin Naik, writing in the Times of India, feels the World Twenty20 offers an excellent opportunity for cricket to regain its popularity in England after the euphoria of the Ashes win in 2005 faded significantly.