Swashbuckling, extravagant, innovative. These are words that could never have been used to describe England's limited overs cricketers in years gone by but these are exciting times as the national team are now trend-setters in limited-overs cricket.
It is a sign of England's changing attitude towards Twenty20 cricket that as many as 24 English players will nervously await the outcome of this weekend's extravagant Indian Premier League auction.
The auction of 578 players takes place on 28th and 29th January in Bangalore (3.30am BST) and a 20% rise in the overall salary cap at this year's tournament ensures that the financial gains have never been bigger. The tournament gets underway on 7th April and runs through to the 27th May, albeit England's Test players will only be available until 17th May as they will need to return home to prepare for the first Test against Pakistan a week later.
We take a look at the 24 English players in the mix for this weekend's auction...
In Demand
All eyes will be on Ben Stokes as he earned £1.7m - the highest fee for an overseas player in IPL history - when Rising Pune Supergiants splashed the cash on him during the 2017 auction and he duly rewarded their faith as he went on to be named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. An impending court case which caused Stokes to miss the Ashes currently hangs over him.
Joe Root missed the IPL auction last year in order to spend more time with his son but the fact he is missing his country's upcoming T20 International Tri-Series against New Zealand and Australia is a clear sign that England is embracing the rewards of IPL cricket.
The all-round skills of Chris Woakes will be sought-after as he proved to be a more than able replacement when Kolkata Knight Riders paid £500,000 for the Warwickshire star to replace Andre Russell last year.
Jos Buttler is one of the most destructive batsmen in world cricket and his wicket-keeping skills are much-improved, making him a real asset. Surprisingly, Mumbai Indians didn't opt to retain his services for 2018.
There are always question marks over the fitness of Mark Wood but the quick bowler is tailor-made for the shortest format and he has continually shown his aptitude for T20 cricket, whether sparkling for Durham in the T20 Blast or for his country.
Sam Billings is one of the 'new breed' of English cricketers. He is innovative with the bat and a gun fielder. It would be a surprise if he didn't appear in the IPL again after gaining experience with Delhi Daredevils, while he has also impressed for Sydney Sixers in the recent Big Bash League.
The Hopefuls
There are a few players who will be sweating on their place in this year's IPL, not least Tymal Mills who picked up a cool £1.4m from RCB last year. The fast bowler has had past troubles with back issues but he remains seriously quick, albeit he has endured a poor BBL tournament with Hobart Hurricanes.
Chris Jordan has previous experience of playing IPL with Sunrisers Hyderabad and RCB, and he arrives at this year's event off the back of a spell with Northern Districts in New Zealand's 'Super Smash' T20 league. Alex Hales went unsold last year, while Jason Roy will hope that his record-breaking heroics for England in their recent One Day International win at Melbourne will have gained him some credit and Jonny Bairstow is also in the mix after going unsold last year.
- Runs: 180
- Fours: 16
- Sixes: 5
- Highest ever ODI score by an England player
- Highest ODI score at The MCG
Jason Roy, take a bow!
Surprise Inclusions
Joe Denly appears to be carving out a niche for himself as a T20 specialist late in his career as the 31-year-old played in Bangladesh over the winter before making a decent impression with Sydney Sixers in Australia, although Moeen Ali's own stock has fallen following a poor spell 'Down Under' during the Ashes.
The Full List
Moeen Ali (IPL Appearances: Debut; Reserve Price: 150 Rs Lakh)
Jonny Bairstow (Debut, 150)
Sam Billings (11, 100)
Ravi Bopara (24, 150)
Jos Buttler (24, 150)
Tom Curran (Debut, 100)
Joe Denly (Debut, 75)
Steve Finn (Debut, 150)
Harry Gurney (Debut, 150)
Alex Hales (0, 100)
Tom Helm (Debut, 40)
Chris Jordan (10, 100)
Dawid Malan (Debut, 50)
Tymal Mills (5, 100)
Eoin Morgan (52, 200)
Samit Patel (Debut, 75)
Liam Plunkett (Debut, 100)
Adil Rashid (Debut, 75)
Joe Root (Debut, 150)
Jason Roy (3, 150)
Ben Stokes (12, 200)
David Willey (Debut, 200)
Chris Woakes (13, 100)
Mark Wood (Debut, 150)
