IAN BLACKWELL left-hand batsman; left-arm spin

FACTFILE DOB: 10.06.78 Team: Somerset Test debut: Yet to play ODI debut:v Zimbabwe, Colombo 2002

Ian Blackwell made his limited-overs debut in the ICC Champions Trophy with the reputation as a hard hitting batsman who could bowl tidy left-arm spin.

He did not disappoint in his second match, blazing a 68-ball 82 against India.

His performances earned him a spot in the World Cup squad, but he played a peripheral part England's campaign.

Questions about his fitness saw him being dropped from the one-day squad in the summer of 2003.

But a series of swashbuckling performances with the bat for Somerset, including a career-best unbeaten 247, persuaded England's selectors to give him another chance.