Sanath Jayasuriya is convinced that Mal Loye should be in England's squad Twenty20 World Cup squad.

The Sri Lankan all-rounder has teamed up with Loye at Old Trafford to help Lancashire to Twenty20 domestic glory.

And the 38-year-old has already seen enough of the Red Rose opener to label him as a massive candidate for September's tournament in South Africa.

"I do think that Mal Loye is missing badly. He is a good player who is playing well. He should be in the England team," stated Jayasuriya.

"There are some players who naturally play a hard hitting game - and if they get set early on, the match situation can change from the start. People like him, you need in the team - in my mind I would pick him."

Jayasuriya was due to open with Loye for the fifth time in the Twenty20 Cup action yesterday - but the game against Derbyshire at Old Trafford was a complete washout.

Lancashire are still second with eight points, and should only need one more win to assure their place in the quarter-finals. They travel to Derbyshire for the return fixture on Thursday night.

The Lightning collected their third win of the campaign at Durham on Friday night, where the former Sri Lanka captain starred with both bat and ball, collecting 32 and then 4-24.

"My form has been good," he continued. "It would have been ideal to get a few more runs with the bat. I need a little bit more time to settle down, but the last two games have been good with both ball and bat.

"In Twenty20 anything can happen. You know with the bat that you have got to go for it straight away, because the team has got to get runs on the board in a 20 over game. My last game (against Durham) was good, and the game at Nottingham was good too."

Lancashire still have two more Twenty20 Cup North Conference games to play - against Derbyshire on Thursday, and then champions Leicestershire on Friday at Old Trafford.