HE STARRED in England’s ICC World Twenty20- winning campaign after impressing for the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League.

Now Michael Lumb intends to use his recent experience to fire the Hampshire Royals to a first Twenty20 Finals Day.

Lumb was magnificent for Hampshire last season and after honing his skills at the top of the order with Rajasthan and England, he is confident of another run spree.

“The nature of t20 is very hit and miss, sometimes it’s your day and sometimes it’s not because strange things happen, but I’m more experienced after playing against the best in the world and that’s helped a lot,” he said.

“More than anything, I’ve learned that you have more balls than you think and that the main thing is to have a game plan and to stick to it.

“If it comes off, it comes off and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t.

Lumb has not been at his best for Hampshire since returning from the Caribbean.

But, after five runs in three innings, a big performance is unlikely to be far away.

“Things haven’t gone my way since I’ve got back, I’ve found ways of getting out but I don’t feel out of form or out of nick in any way,”

he continued.

“These things happen, it’s a roller coaster. I’ll pick myself up and the next game’s a new game.

“Hopefully there will be more pace in the wickets than the ones I played on in Jaipur and St Lucia [for Rajasthan and England].

“They were quite slow and it suits my game to have pace on the ball.”

Only Jonathan Trott scored more than Lumb’s 442 runs in last season’s Twenty20 Cup, but only Marcus Trescothick got close to the Hampshire star’s 160.72 strike rate.

Bowlers across the country are sure to have done their homework.

“I’m expecting a few different things to be thrown at me but I’ve got contingency plans, different plans for different bowlers,”

said Lumb, who is optimisitic about Hampshire’s Twenty20 chances.

“It’s good to be back and with a home final this year, the guys are ready and raring to go.

“Jim [Adams] and I had a succesful partnership in all forms of one-day cricket last year and we’re good mates, so hopefully we can get the team off to some good starts again.

“We’ve got some other strong hitters in Dimi and Abdul Razzaq and Sean Ervine and Ranga’s done well for us so it’s a strong all-round side on paper.”

Lumb will also play against Essex from tomorrow morning and believes Hampshire can still challenge at the top end of the LV= County Championship’s first division.

“Two or three wins and we’re right up there again,” said the 30-yearold, who will not be available to Hampshire for long if his ICC World Twenty20 heroics are rewarded with inclusion in England’s next one-day squad.

“I’m trying not to think about England, that’s up to selectors.

“My main objective is to play well for Hampshire and if I do that the rest will follow,”

he added.