T20 Cricket News

Michael Lumb, the Hampshire batsman picked in the England squad for the World Twenty20, has said the influence of Shane Warne after his move to Hampshire and his experience in the IPL have helped his game and his profile. Lumb, 30, represented Yorkshire for six years before signing a contract with Hampshire in 2006 and is currently playing for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL.

"It was the move to Hampshire that first started to turn things around for me," he was quoted as saying in the Guardian. "Warnie has been absolutely great for me. He's just unbelievable to have in the dressing room. He pumps you up, he tells you how good you are."

Lumb has extensive experience on the first-class and List A circuit, with averages of 34.08 and 32.32. In 64 Twenty20 games, he averages 24.96 with a century and ten fifties, including some useful contributions this IPL after a poor start to the tournament. He had a highly successful Twenty20 Cup in 2009, where he scored 442 runs at 44.20.

"It's something I've always dreamed about, even though I'm not as young as I used to be and there have been some tough times before now," he said of his selection in the national squad. "I'm in there now and I just want to grab the chance with both hands."

Lumb, who was snapped up by Rajasthan, led by Warne, for $50,000 in the auction in February, described his stint in the IPL thus far as a "quite unbelievable experience", after winning a place in the opening slot following Graeme Smith's injury which ruled him out of the competition. "I'm not going to lie to you; in my first game I was really nervous. It gets easier, you start to get a few balls away and you think: 'Hey, I might actually belong out here.'"

Like several cricketers who've gone on to play for England, Lumb was born in South Africa, and represented that country at the Under-19 level before returning to England in 1998. Lumb, whose father Richard opened the batting for Yorkshire, had no doubts over where his loyalties lay. "It's funny, whenever there was sport on the TV, me and my dad always rooted for England and my sister went for South Africa. It was always my dream to get picked to play for them one day."

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