Who will win out of the final four? South Africa will play and in my opinion beat, Pakistan to get through to the final to play the winner of Sri Lanka and West Indies. One that could go either way but I’m going for Sri Lanka. The winner? Not sure yet… give me a couple of days to mull it over..

So, aside from watching the end of the tournament as a neutral, we can start the build up to the Ashes! In just three weeks we’ll be underway and the remaining Aussies have made their way over to join up with those that were here for the Twenty20 tournament. The press will probably wait for the Twenty20 to finish before really starting to build the hype, England name a training group next Monday and then the thoughts will turn towards the team. With Freddie back bowling for Lancashire this past week we should be back up to full strength which is a huge boost and gives us options of the make up of the team. Team picking can wait for another blog post though!

I did see Sunday’s game against Pakistan though, and like I predicted to some friends before, they came out hurting after the shock two days previous to show what they really can do as a team. It was pleasing that everyone contributed to the win, although Ravi Bop didn’t have the greatest game he went to a good catch and Eoin Morgan was a good sub fielder – maybe Shah can go off injured every game when we’re fielding…. and Rashid is exciting to watch – a proper leg spinner, English and young, don’t put too much pressure on him too soon and he’ll be a real good one in a few years.

So we’re through to the next round when we won’t take anyone too lightly hopefully. KP admitting he isn’t fully fit is a bit of a worry with the Ashes but he strikes me as the sort of player who just wants to be there playing so let him manage his injury and I’m sure he’ll be key for us as we expect this summer.

Also, a quick line if you fancy supporting your team – Kitbag have some ODI, test and Twenty20 shirts and training kit available from their site here. I bought the Adidas traning fleece earlier in the year and I love it – the Adidas stuff seems really good quality and I can see myself buying more in the not too distant future!

Once the competition gets up and running however, it should be good viewing. Daily updates during competitions aren’t really my thing on this blog, but I know some people are after this, and I’ve been in touch with a team running a new blog at WorldTwenty20Cricket.co.uk – check this site out as it should offer you what you want in terms of news, reaction etc.

There will be a lot of interest surrounding this tournament once it gets underway with it being held in this country, and with two games played on one ground in a day there is plenty of action to keep the supporters happy. If you’re looking for a ticket to any of the games then World Twenty20 Cricket will help you in the right direction as well as they have included links to one of the ticket exchange sites. Give the site a go and keep in touch with the Twenty20 World Cup.

Who do I think will win? India won it last time and when you look at their side they just seem to have the match winners in it. Australia will push them whilst England have warmed up well but in my mind don’t have that killer instinct yet. Go on boys – prove me wrong!!

It costs four quid to enter a team, which you can do at http://fantasycricket.telegraph.co.uk with a top prize of £5k and another £5k in other prizes, the tournament starts on the 5th June so you want to have entered by then. Although I didn’t enter a county championship team in the end, this game will probably entice me to play since I only have to keep in touch with it for a few weeks rather than a whole season.

I havn’t looked at any of the player lists yet, so let me know who you think will be the standout players in the tournament in the comments below to help me pick my team!

I’m not going to go into too much depth right now since the test series against India is done and dusted, suffice to say there were signs that we were doing ok, without having the talent/belief to close a result out. Since then we’ve heard that captain KP and coach Moores aren’t getting along too well which doesn’t really bode well. It’s unclear how this will be resolved right now, but the ECB aren’t going to want to upset their captain and best batsman before the vital summer we face, and the Ashes series along with the Twenty20 world cup in this country.

Speaking of the Ashes, I’ve been delighted to see Australia beaten in their own back yard by South Africa! It looks like they might claw back the 3rd test, but with SA already 2 up they will win the series – the first touring side to do so in Australia for a long time. Australia really don’t look the same side they did when they beat us 5-0 in 06/07, so we could be in for a treat of an Ashes battle this summer.

Anyway, lots more to come on this blog over the next year, so keep coming back and let me know if you want to voice your opinion about any of it and I’ll be more than happy to post it here!

image courtesy bbc sport

India didn’t have to rely on Yuvraj in the final, with Gambhir being the one who took the initiative and scored almost half of his teams runs. Pakistan didn’t put the vital partnerships together, and it was looking very difficult to chase down the total until Misbah-ul-Haq came to the crease. He did so well until the final over, when with only six needed from four balls he played a dangerous shot and was caught.

So congrats to the Indians, they’ve played well in this tournament and havn’t relied on one player too much which shows a good team effort. The one thing this tournament has given and that is entertainment – the players may not have liked the idea of this tournament and some in the media were a bit against it but it has been a success. The grounds have been packed, the pitches good enough to allow the batsmen to hit some almighty shots, and the bowlers have charged in with a smile on their face (sometimes) after being battered all around the ground. I think this first tournament has shown that this format of the game is here to stay which if you ask me is a good thing!