Tim Bresnan
Timothy 'Tim' Thomas Bresnan (born 28 February 1985) is an English cricketer. He is a fast-medium bowler, as well as being respected for his ability with the bat for Yorkshire. He normally fields in the deep. He won the NBC Denis Compton Award in 2002 and 2003. In June 2006 he was called up to the England One Day International side, and in May 2009, he joined England's Test side. He was selected for the 2010-11 Ashes series and played in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG; he took 6 wickets including the final one which saw England retain the Ashes.Bresnan made his maiden first-class century in a County Championship match versus Surrey at the Oval whilst playing for Yorkshire. He scored 116 and in doing so, alongside Jason Gillespie, set a record 9th wicket partnership for Yorkshire. The pair put on 246 before Bresnan was stumped off the bowling of Nayan Doshi and on the 13th July 2007, Bresnan scored his second first-class ton for England Lions against a touring Indian team, boasting the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Ramesh Powar, and Shanthakumaran Sreesanth. Bresnan scored 116 not out from 156 deliveries in the first day and shared a partnership of 129 with Nottinghamshire bowler Stuart Broad who scored 50.
Stuart Broad
Stuart Christopher John Broad (born 24 June 1986 in Nottingham) is a cricketer who plays Test and One Day International cricket for England. A left-handed batsman and right-arm seam bowler, Broad's professional career started at Leicestershire, the team attached to his school, Oakham School; in 2008 he transferred to Nottinghamshire, the county of his birth and the team for which his father played. In August 2006 he was voted the Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketer of the Year.
He was a vital member of the victorious 2009 Ashes squad, and he won Man of the Match in the fifth Test at the Oval, after figures of 5/37 in the afternoon session of the second day. His bowling was also instrumental in helping England win the 2010 ICC World T20. As a batsman, he holds the second-highest ever Test score made by a number 9 after his 169, his first century in first-class cricket, against Pakistan in August 2010.Broad originally started his career as an opening batsman, following in the footsteps of his father, the former England opener and current ICC match referee Chris Broad. It was not until he was 17 and had a growth spurt that he started to consider being a fast bowler. Broad had been associated with Leicestershire since he was 8 years old having represented them at Under–9 level. Broad learned most of his adult cricket at Melton Mowbray club Egerton Park. He played for the club from the ages of 9–19; in his final two seasons he opened the batting with fellow Leicestershire player Matthew Boyce and spearheaded the attack. Broad maintained the Club's tradition of providing International seam bowlers as Egerton Park were the first club of former Warwickshire, Derbyshire and (fleetingly) England seamer Tim Munton. He was awarded with the Leicestershire Young Cricketers Batsman Award in 1996.
Broad was a pupil at Oakham School, where he was in the same year as England Rugby back-row Tom Croft. He opened both the batting and the bowling for the Oakham first XI; in fifty matches he scored 902 runs at 37.58 and took 61 wickets at 23.34. Broad finished his school career with three B–grades at A-level; given the choice of a place at Durham University or a contract with Leicestershire County Cricket Club, he chose the latter
Ravi Bopara
Ravinder Singh ("Ravi") Bopara (born 4 May 1985, Forest Gate, Newham, London) is a British Indian cricketer who plays for Essex and England. He is the second Sikh to play cricket for England, after Monty Panesar. He was first called up to the England ODI team in 2007, before a difficult Test debut in Sri Lanka saw him dropped in early 2008 after a string of three ducks. He regained his place for a Test against the West Indies in the winter of 2008-09, however, and scored a century batting at number three. Bopara held on to the number three position for the May 2009 home Test series against the West Indies, scoring a century in both tests, and was named in the preliminary 2009 Ashes squad.
Bopara has also enjoyed success in the Indian Premier League, where he plays for the Kings XI Punjab.In January 2007 Kevin Pietersen sustained a rib injury in England's first One Day International against Australia, keeping him out of the remainder of the series. Bopara was called up as his replacement, and made his ODI debut on 2 February. Later that month, he was named in the England squad for the 2007 Cricket World Cup, and he played his second ODI in England's second match of that tournament. In England's match against Sri Lanka, Bopara was named man of the match for his 52 off 53 balls, which brought England to within three runs of victory from a seemingly hopeless position. The partnership for the seventh wicket was an English World Cup record and was the second record partnership made by Bopara in the tournament, following his record fifth wicket partnership with Paul Collingwood against Canada. On 30 August he again featured in a prominent tail end partnership, this time with Stuart Broad as the pair added an unbeaten 99 for the 8th wicket to defeat India at Old Trafford. Bopara finished 43 not out.
In June 2007, he made his highest ever first-class score, against Northamptonshire striking 229 runs off 391 balls, including 27 fours, and one six. He was picked in the squad for the ICC World Twenty20 tournament in September 2007, but was injured and was unable to go.
Paul Collingwood
Paul David Collingwood MBE (born 26 May 1976) is an English cricketer. He has been a regular member of the England Test side, was captain of the One Day International (ODI) team 2007–2008, and is the current England Twenty20 captain. He is also vice-captain of his county, Durham County Cricket Club. Collingwood is a batting all-rounder, whose batting combines natural strokeplay with great tenacity. He also bowls reliable medium pace. Described as a "natural athlete", he is also regarded as one of the finest fielders of his time; usually fielding at backward point or in the slips, he has also deputised as wicket-keeper for England.
His first class debut was in 1996, and he made his first appearance for England in One Day International cricket in 2001 and made his Test match debut in 2003. For two years he remained an occasional Test player, but after selection for the final Test of the 2005 Ashes, he secured a regular place. His 206 during the 2006–07 Ashes was the first double century by an England batsman in Australia for 78 years. A series of three consecutive match-winning performances by Collingwood at the end of the 2006–07 Commonwealth Bank Series in Australia brought him enthusiastic approval in the British media. His "allround [sic] display of incredible nerve and tenacity" helped to secure the trophy for England. In 2010 he led the England team to their first ICC Trophy, the 2010 World Twenty20. He is England's most capped ODI cricketer and leading ODI run scorer.He announced his retirement from Test cricket in January 2011, during the 5th Test of the 2010–11 Ashes series. He finished on a high, becoming a three-times Ashes winner as England won a series in Australia for the first time in 24 years, with three innings victories contributing to a 3-1 win.
Michael Yardy
Michael Howard Yardy (born November 27, 1980 in Pembury, Kent) is an English cricketer. He captains Sussex County Cricket Club and is a left-handed batsman whose unusual technique has attracted a great deal of attention due to a pronounced shuffle from leg to off immediately prior to the bowler releasing the ball. Yardy also bowls slow left arm with a characteristic round armed action similar to that of Australia's Darren Lehmann, and is used as a bowling all-rounder in England's ODI and Twenty20 teams.Yardy made his Sussex debut in an early-season NatWest Trophy game against Hertfordshire in May 1999, although it was not a very successful way to begin his career: opening the batting, he was lbw for nought and went for 14 from two wicketless overs. He also played a one-day game against Sri Lanka A, again with little success, and though he played a few games the following year it was only in 2001 that he became anything like a regular in the side. He played ten games in 2002, but only seven in total over the next two years, before returning with a vengeance in 2005.
He enjoyed an excellent domestic summer that season, making 1,520 first-class runs at 56.29 with five centuries, including a career-best 257 against the Bangladeshis in May. Only Murray Goodwin, who hit 344* in 2009, had made a higher score for Sussex since the Second World War. In the one-day game, Yardy was less successful with the bat, averaging well under 20, but he achieved a career-best bowling performance of 6-27 against Warwickshire in the totesport League.
He was appointed as Sussex's County Captain for the 2009 season, succeeding Chris Adams.
Matt Prior
Matthew James Prior (born 26 February 1982, Johannesburg, South Africa) is an English One Day International (ODI) and Test cricketer who plays domestic cricket for Sussex. He is a wicket-keeper, and his aggressive right-handed batting enables him to open the innings in ODI matches. With an international Test debut score of 126, Prior became the first English wicket-keeper to hit a century in his debut match in early 2007. His glovework, however, was criticised. Despite a successful tour of Sri Lanka with the bat, Prior's keeping was less successful, and he was dropped from the team for the 2008 tour of New Zealand. He returned for the 2008 series against South Africa, and was retained into 2009, where he became the second fastest England keeper to reach 1,000 Test runs, behind Les Ames.Prior was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and moved to England with his family aged 11. His mother is South African and his father is English. From an early age Prior showed commitment to charitable causes and has never shied away from taking part in matches and events in the name of charity. He is married to Emily, the daughter of former footballer Sammy Nelson who played for Arsenal F.C. and Brighton & Hove Albion. The Priors have a son named Jonathan who was born early 2009.
Luke Wright
Luke James Wright (born 7 March 1985) is an English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium bowler. Born in Grantham, Wright joined Sussex in 2004, having started his career at Leicestershire. He was named in England's squad for the Under-19 World Cup in 2004, and joined the International Twenty20 squad for the 2007 Twenty20 World Championship in September 2007. He made his One Day International debut on 5 September 2007 against Indi.
Wright hit a century on debut for Sussex, and has won the Denis Compton medal on three separate occasions during his domestic career. On 26 June 2007 he smashed his maiden domestic Twenty20 Cup century, scoring 103 from only 45 balls, including 11 fours and six sixes before being bowled by Yasir Arafat in Sussex's 7 wicket win over Kent at Canterbury. Although Sussex were defeated in the semi-finals, Wright ended up as the highest run scorer of the competition. Wright has also found success in the longer one day formats, hitting 125 against Gloucestershire from 73 deliveries.
In April 2008, Wright played for the MCC at the opening match of the 2008 county season. Making 15 in the first innings while Sussex were bowled out for 171, he hit a quickfire 155* from 185 deliveries, with 21 fours and three sixes, during a rain-interrupted second innings, his highest score thus far. In May 2008 he was selected for the England Lions team to face the touring New Zealand side at the beginning of the latter's tour of England. With the Lions struggling, Wright hit 120 off 131 deliveries to bring them to 280 all out, giving rise to speculation about his place in the national team.
Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Peter Pietersen, MBE (born 27 June 1980) is a South African-born English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who plays for England and Surrey. He had also played for Indian Premier League team Royal Challengers Bangalore for its second and third seasons, captaining the side in his first, prior to being bought by the Deccan Chargers for the fourth season of the competition. He was captain of the England Test and One Day International teams from 4 August 2008 to 7 January 2009 but resigned after just three tests and nine One Day Internationals, following a dispute with England coach Peter Moores, who was sacked the same day. He is regarded as one of the best batsmen in the world, and is certainly the most destructive,as he is capable of taking on any bowling.
Pietersen was born in Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa. He made his first-class debut for Natal in 1997 before moving to England after voicing his displeasure at the racial quota system in place in South Africa. His English mother gave Pietersen eligibility to play for England, and after serving a qualifying period of four years playing at county level, he was called up almost immediately into the national side. He made his international debut in the One Day International match against Zimbabwe in 2004, and his Test match debut in the 2005 Ashes series against Australia the following year. The England team's subsequent reliance on Pietersen since his debut has resulted in only one first-class appearance for Hampshire since 2005, which resulted in Pietersen looking to leave the club in 2010.He subsequently joined Surrey on loan for the remainder on the 2010 English county cricket season after being dropped by England due to a poor run of form, soon before joining the club permanently from the 2011 season onwards.
Pietersen became the fastest batsman to reach both 1,000 and 2,000 runs in One Day International cricket, and the quickest in terms of time to 5,000 Test runs. He has the highest average of any England player to have played more than 20 innings of one-day cricket.He has the second-highest run total from his first 25 Tests, behind only the Australian Donald Bradman, and was the fastest player, in terms of days, to reach 4,000 Test runs. He became only the third English batsman to top the ICC One Day International rankings, doing so in March 2007. In July 2008, after a century against South Africa, The Times called him "the most complete batsman in cricket". Shane Warne, a close friend, in a September serial for the same newspaper, wrote, "I don't think he has an obvious flaw in his technique."
Jonathan Trott
Ian Jonathan Leonard Trott (born 22 April 1981 in Cape Town, Cape Province, South Africa) is an English cricketer. Domestically, he plays for Warwickshire and he has also played in South Africa and New Zealand.
A right-handed middle-order batsman and occasional medium-pace bowler, he played two Twenty20 Internationals for England in 2007. Good performances for his county in 2008 and 2009, as well as a productive tour in 2008–09 with the England Lions, led to a call-up to the senior England Test squad in August 2009 for the fifth Ashes Test. He scored a century in that Test, becoming the 18th England player to do so on his Test debut. 18 months later, he scored another century at the MCG to set up the victory which saw England retain the Ashes. His highest England score in a Test match is 226, made against Bangladesh at Lord's on 28 May 2010, and he took his first Test wicket in the same match.
James Tredwell
James Cullum Tredwell (born 27 February 1982 in Ashford, Kent) is an English cricketer. A left-handed batsman and a right-arm off break bowler, he plays his domestic cricket for Kent County Cricket Club. He made his debut for Kent in the 2001 season, just nine days before his first appearance for England Under-19s.
He has been part of the one-day set-up for Kent since 2002, but did not secure a regular place in the first-class County Championship team until 2007, a year after taking his maiden ten-wicket haul. He was selected as part of the England One Day International (ODI) squad to tour New Zealand in 2007–08, but did not make an appearance, as Graeme Swann was preferred. After impressing during the 2009 season with Kent, helping the team gain promotion back to the first division of the County Championship, he was called up during the course of the winter tour to South Africa to both the ODI and Test squads, to provide cover for injured bowlers.
James Anderson
James Michael "Jimmy" Anderson (born 30 July 1982 in Burnley, Lancashire) is an English cricketer. He plays first-class cricket for Lancashire County Cricket Club and since bursting onto the scene in 2002/03, before his first full season of county cricket, Anderson has represented England in over 50 Test matches and over 100 One Day Internationals.
A right arm pace bowler, Anderson made his international debut at the age of just 20. On England's 2002/03 tour of Australia, Anderson was drafted into the squad from the England A team due to an injury crisis. When he played his first ODI he had only played five senior one day matches. Anderson went on to feature in the 2003 ICC World Cup and made his Test match debut against Zimbabwe at Lords the next summer. Later in 2003 he experienced a dip in form and confidence against South Africa. After this he was in and out of the team and experienced numerous injuries, including a stress fracture of the back which kept him out of action for most of the 2006 season. He returned to action and features regularly in England's Test squad. He is a regular strike bowler in England's one day team.
Ian Bell
Ian Ronald Bell MBE (born 11 April 1982) is an England Test cricketer. He also plays county cricket for Warwickshire County Cricket Club. He is a right-handed higher/middle order batsman, described by The Times as an "exquisite rapier,"[1] and occasional right-arm medium pace bowler. He is also noted for his sharp reflexes and often fields in close catching positions.
Bell plays both Test and One Day International matches for England, and has hit twelve Test centuries. In the 2006 New Year Honours List, Ian Bell was awarded the MBE for his role in the successful Ashes campaign of 2005 and in November 2006, he was awarded the prestigious Emerging Player of the Year award by the International Cricket Council. During 2008 and 2009, he was a more infrequent member of the England teams, however he reclaimed his Test place during the 2009 Ashes, which England won, and featured in several ODIs the following year. During 2010, he captained Warwickshire to victory in the CB40 final before scoring his first Ashes century the following winter as he helped England retain the Ashes down-under.
Graeme Swann
Graeme Peter Swann (born 24 March 1979 in Northampton) is an English international cricketer. He is primarily a right-arm offspinner, but also bats right-handed. After initially playing for his home county Northamptonshire, for whom he made his debut in 1997, he moved to Nottinghamshire in 2005. He often fields at slip. He attended Sponne School in Towcester, Northamptonshire.
Swann played a single One Day International against South Africa in 2000, before losing his place in the squad. In 2007, Swann was chosen to accompany England on its tour of Sri Lanka as the team's second spin bowler, alongside Monty Panesar, and subsequently cemented a regular place in England's Test team, playing throughout England's 2–1 victory in the 2009 Ashes. In December 2009, he became the first English spinner to take 50 wickets in a calendar year, culminating in back-to-back man of the match awards in the first two Tests of the South Africa tour and third place in the world rankings for bowlers.
In March 2010, Swann became the first English off-spinner since Jim Laker to take 10 wickets in a match, when he achieved the feat in England's victory in the first test in Bangladesh. In May, he was named ECB Cricketer of the Year. He ended 2010 as England retained and then won the Ashes series in Australia, as the second highest-ranked bowler in world cricket, and the highest ranked spin bowler.
Andrew Strauss
Andrew John Strauss, MBE (born 2 March 1977) is an English cricketer who plays county cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club and is captain of England. A fluent left-handed opening batsman, Strauss favours scoring off the back foot, mostly playing cut and pull shots. Strauss is also known for his fielding strength at slip or in the covers.
He made his first-class debut in 1998, and his One Day International (ODI) debut in Sri Lanka in 2003. He quickly rose to fame on his Test match debut replacing the injured Michael Vaughan at Lords against New Zealand in 2004. With scores of 112 and 83 (run out) in an England victory, and the man of the match award, he became only the fourth batsman to score a century at Lord's on his debut and was close to becoming the first Englishman to score centuries in both innings of his debut. Strauss again nearly scored two centuries (126 and 94 not out) and was named man of the match in his first overseas Test match, in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, in December 2004.Strauss suffered a drop in form during 2007, and as a result he was left out of the Test squad for England's tour of Sri Lanka, and announced that he was taking a break from cricket. After a poor tour for England, Strauss was recalled into the squad for the 2008 tour of New Zealand, and subsequently reestablished himself in the side with a career-best 177 in the third and final Test of that series, and a further three centuries in 2008.
Having deputised for Michael Vaughan as England captain in 2006, Strauss was appointed on a permanent basis for the 2008/09 tour of the West Indies following Kevin Pietersen's resignation. He enjoyed success with three centuries, and retained the captaincy into 2009. Strauss captained the England team to a 2–1 victory in the 2009 Ashes, scoring a series total of 474 runs, more than any other player on either side, including 161 in England's first victory in an Ashes Test at Lord's in 75 years.
Ajmal Shahzad
Ajmal Shahzad (born 27 July 1985) is an English cricketer who plays for Yorkshire County Cricket Club. A right-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium bowler, he made his international debut in a Twenty20 International for England in February 2010. He later made his ODI debut before becoming the 650th player to play Test cricket for England, making his debut against Bangladesh.
In 2004, he became the first Yorkshire-born player of Asian extraction to play for Yorkshire.
In his only first-class appearance in 2006, he failed to take a wicket, and scored just two runs. He enjoyed more success in the shorter formats of the game, claiming five wickets and 18 runs in four List A matches for his native county, and in his sole Twenty20 appearance, he took 2 wickets.
In 2009, Shahzad enjoyed an injury free and successful season, taking 40 wickets and scoring 445 runs in the late middle order, raising hopes that he may yet exhibit genuine all-rounder potential. His performances gained him a call up to the England performance squad in South Africa squad, where he impressed coach Andy Flower.
International career
In January 2010, he was named in the Test and ODI squads for the England tour of Bangladesh. On his debut for England in a Twenty20 International against Pakistan, he claimed two wickets, both in his first over.
He later made his ODI début against Bangladesh, again taking a wicket in his first over. When Bangladesh later toured England, he made his Test début in the second Test, replacing the injured Tim Bresnan. After only scoring 5 runs in England's innings and an expensive start with the ball, he later took 3 wickets in 3 overs in his second spell as Bangladesh missed the follow-on target.
Shahzad was subsequently selected for the Ashes 2010-11 squad, but never featured in any of the matches. He was also chosen for the twenty20 and ODI squads touring Australia. He is currently in the 15 man squad for the ICC World Cup 2011.
(source:wikipedia)
