World Twenty20 ready for lift-off

The inaugural World Twenty20 tournament starts on Tuesday, when South Africa take on West Indies in Johannesburg.

The hosts start as second favourites, behind Australia among the 12 teams in the two-week tournament.

England face the Aussies and Zimbabwe in Group B, while Scotland join India and Pakistan in Group D. The top two in each group goes into the Super Eights.

There the top eight teams will be split into two groups, with the leading two from each qualifying for the last four.

Since its inception in England in 2003, cricket's shortest format has proved an overwhelming success among younger spectators thanks to its fast-paced action.

Indeed, some observers have even questioned whether it will eventually replace 50-over matches as the premier form of one-day cricket, particularly following the disappointing World Cup earlier this year.

Internationally, only 19 matches have been played since the first game in February 2005, while traditional one-day superpowers India have featured in only one match.

But even they have recognised the growing popularity of the format by revealing plans for a domestic tournament.

Australia go into this competition without legendary paceman Glenn McGrath, who has retired, and the injured Shaun Tait but speedster Brett Lee, who missed the 50-over World Cup through injury, is back to lead their attack.

India batting stars Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly are sitting out the tournament, Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan is injured, while South Africa have surprisingly rested key all-rounder Jacques Kallis.

England are one of several teams to have mixed established internationals alongside Twenty20 specialists such as Darren Maddy and Jeremy Snape.

Youngster Luke Wright, the leading run-scorer in domestic Twenty20 this year, has made an impressive start to his England career, while top wicket-taker Chris Schofield and Maddy are back for their country after a seven-year absence.

However, once again, the form and fitness of talismanic all-rounder Andrew Flintoff is likely to be the key to their chances of success in the competition.

Scotland's group rivals both failed disastrously in the 50-over World Cup in the Caribbean earlier this year and have new captains for this event.

In Dravid's absence, maverick wicket-keeper Mahendra Dhoni will lead a relatively inexperienced India squad, while Pakistan have Shoaib Malik in charge.

Star paceman Shoaib Akhtar has been sent home following a fracas with team-mate Mohammad Asif during training and prolific batsman Mohammad Yousuf was surprisingly omitted.

England, who will be guided by Peter Moores, are among a number of teams with coaches participating in their first major tournament.

Geoff Lawson (Pakistan), Tim Nielsen (Australia), Trevor Bayliss (Sri Lanka) and Robin Brown (Zimbabwe) have also recently taken the helm.

Pakistan actually have the best record in the new format - three wins in their four games, and their Faisalabad Wolves are the world club champions, while England have lost four of their six and Australia have won only two out of five.

Sri Lanka, who lost to Australia in the 50-over final in April, and West Indies, who outplayed England recently, could also mount a serious challenge, but the Aussies will once again be the team to beat.

They were barely tested in the Caribbean as they waltzed to a third successive 50-over triumph and feature some of the most destructive batsmen in the game.

Source: BBC Sport