Andrew Flintoff, MBE, (born 6 December 1977 in Preston, Lancashire) is a cricketer who plays for Lancashire and England. A tall (6' 4") fast bowler, batsman, slip fielder, and according to the ICC rankings, was consistently rated amongst the top international allrounders in both ODI and Test cricket. His nickname "Freddie" or "Fred" comes from the similarity between his surname and that of Fred Flintstone. Since his debut in 1998, Flintoff has become an integral player, and has both captained and vice-captained the team. He has been plagued with ankle injuries due to his bowling action, and in late 2007 a fourth operation took him out of cricket until summer 2008.

Kevin Peter Pietersen MBE (born 27 June 1980 in Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa) is an English cricketer. He is an attacking right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who plays for Hampshire County Cricket Club and England. He was captain of the England Test and One Day International teams from 4 August 2008 to 7 January 2009. He 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 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,[4] and to further his opportunities for playing at international level. 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 debu

Paul Collingwood is perhaps the first specialist fielder to earn regular selection for a Test squad. He made England's one-day team in 2001, but four years and numerous tours later, he had played in just three Tests. In Australia in 2002-03 he started the VB Series as 12th man, but was soon spanking a memorable maiden international century against Sri Lanka at Perth - a round 100 that confirmed his place in the 2003 World Cup squad.

A strapping, genuinely quick fast bowler, James Anderson had played only three one-day games for Lancashire in the 2002 season - he'd played more for his club Burnley - before being called into England's VB Series squad the following winter as cover for Andy Caddick, following an impressive stint at the Academy in Adelaide.

Morgan a left-handed batsman, he captained the Irish Under-19 cricket team in 2006. He has also represented Middlesex and Ireland in first-class and limited-overs cricket. He is a right-arm fast-medium bowler and an occasional wicketkeeper.

Owais Alam Shah (born 22 October 1978 in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan is a cricketer who plays for Middlesex and has appeared for England in a number of One Day Internationals and four Test matches.

Ravinder Singh ("Ravi") Bopara (born 4 May 1985, Forest Gate, Newham, London) is an English cricketer who plays for Essex. Although originally a specialist batsman, he is now improving his medium-pace bowling and developing into an all-rounder, especially in the shorter form of the game. His agile fielding also adds to his worth. He is the second Sikh to play cricket for England, after Monty Panesar.

Graham Richard Napier (born January 6, 1980 in Colchester, Essex) is an English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm fast-medium bowler.[1] Napier has played first-class cricket for his home county of Essex since the outset of his senior career in 1997. Between 1997 and 1999 Napier played in four Youth Test matches in England against Zimbabwe, South Africa (twice) and Australia's respective under-19 teams. He was also a member of the 1998 U-19 Cricket World Cup-winning squad.

Adrian Dimitri Mascarenhas (born 30 October 1977 in Chiswick) is an English cricketer of Sri Lankan-Tamil heritage. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler. He currently is the only Englishman to play in the Indian Premier League; for the Rajasthan Royals. He holds the record for most runs for England in an over in a One Day International with 30, scored against India off Yuvraj Singh on 5 September 2007, at The Oval, London.

Stuart Broad was shaping up to be an opening bat just like his dad Chris, until he suddenly shot up. Within 18 months he had transformed himself into a medium-fast bowler and was playing for England Under-19 and Leicestershire's first XI. A few months later and he's gone from England's A team to a call-up to the full one-day side. Talk about a meteoric rise.

But his game could yet change, again: he has aspirations to be an allrounder, and after his first eight Tests, he had racked up three half-centuries from the pivotal No. 8 position, and push his Test average above 40 - a mark his father (39.54) just missed out on over the course of his 25-match career.

At the age of just 19, he was called into the England A set-up in the West Indies to replace James Anderson who flew out to bolster the seniors in India and was twice selected for England A during the 2006 season

James Foster was earmarked early on as an England wicketkeeper in the making. After just four first-class matches for Essex he was selected for the England A tour of West Indies in 2000-01. At this point he was still sharing the English season between his studies at Durham University and playing for Essex, but once he committed full-time to cricket he was being talked of as a successor to Alec Stewart. His chance came on the 2001-02 one-day tour of Zimbabwe, where he made his debut at Harare, before earning a spot on the trip to India after Stewart opted out. He made a nervous start at Mohali, but became more assured during the tour and impressed with some determined innings. He retained his place for the tour of New Zealand after Christmas, but was ousted from the one-day squad when England searched for greater balance by using Marcus Trescothick. Then came a cruel break - literally - when his arm was broken during nets with Essex, allowing Alec Stewart to slot back

Cherry-cheeked Kent batsman Robert Key had been marked down for great things - not least by headline-writers spotting an easy pun a mile off - since he helped England win the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa early in 1998. His trademark shot is a back-foot biff through the covers, while his off-drive on the front foot pleases the purists too. For a while his waistline expanded along with his burgeoning batting reputation, and he was 16 stone and counting before Alec Stewart had a quiet word. Over 1000 runs for Kent in 2001 were followed by a winter under Rod Marsh at the Academy in Adelaide. Key came back even leaner and hungrier, and more runs propelled him past Ian Bell - previously touted as the Next Big Thing - into the England side after Marcus Trescothick's broken thumb and Graham Thorpe's broken heart created a vacancy or two. A couple of gutsy innings followed in Australia, although he displayed a worrying propensity for getting out when seemingly set, espe

Young spinners in England will always make headlines if they take wickets - when it's a young legspinner the hype is magnified. Adil Rashid, a product of the spin programme Terry Jenner put in place, burst onto the scene with six wickets against Warwickshire during his first-class debut in 2006 and he finished the summer with 25 wickets in six Championship appearances. His performances for England Under-19s also caught the eye with a century and an eight-wicket haul during the second Test against India. He suffered a stress fracture in his back in the close season which forced him to remodel his action, which is now more side-on. His profile rose exponentially in 2007 when he struck his maiden Championship century against Worcestershire in August and at the end of the season he was awarded the prestigious title of Cricket Writers' Club 2007 Young Cricketer of the Year. In 2008 he enjoyed his most prolific season with 62 in the County Championship and was a late addit

With his long, curly, ginger hair, standing 6' 4" and weighing 13 stone, Ryan Sidebottom is one of the most recognisable figures on the county circuit and now, after a belated second chance at international cricket, is making up for lost time at the top level.

Like his father - Arnie - who was an accomplished footballer and one-time Test player - he made his county debut for Yorkshire as a left-arm seamer in 1997, having previously impressed the scouts of Sheffield United Football Club. For much of his career it appeared Sidebottom jnr would remain a one-cap Test wonder like his father. He'd been handed his debut in 2001 against Pakistan, but after a wicketless performance was banished back to county cricket. Although he bowled tidily throughout, he failed to take a wicket and was generally considered to be out of his depth and he was quickly discarded, and seemingly forgotten after

Graeme Swann came to prominence with a maiden first-class century for Northants against Leicestershire in the Championship in 1998, his first season, and was regularly promoted in the batting order to provide impetus in one-day cricket. He impressed all observers with his positive attitude and energy. Fast-tracked into the A team to tour South Africa and Zimbabwe, he took 21 wickets at 25.61, and averaged 22 with the bat.

Called up for the final Test against New Zealand during England's inglorious summer of 1999, Swann was subsequently left out of the final XI, but rewarded with a place as part of the new-look England squad to tour South Africa that winter. He found life outside the Test team frustrating, but made his international debut at Bloemfontein in the triangular tournament when Ashley Giles's injury saw him called into the one-day squad. Swann bowled only five overs, but showed c

As a medium-fast bowling allrounder, it's no surprise that Luke Wright admires Jacques Kallis and Andrew Flintoff or that he hopes to emulate the latter in one day playing for England. That moment came a step closer when he was named in the Twenty20 World Championship squad.

Among his achievements, Wright has represented England Under-19s, won the Denis Compton medal three times and scored a century on his first-class debut for Sussex. He was also a key part of the Sussex team that won the C&G Trophy final in 2006. He has spent the last two winters at the National Academy based at Loughborough University, where he was right at home having studied Sports Science and Sports Massage there.

He took further steps towards emulating the likes of Flintoff and reaching the England side in February 2006 when he was called to the West Indies to