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The Deccan Chargers franchise is reported to have served a legal notice on the IPL, and threatened a boycott of the 2010 tournament, over the issue of its home matches being shifted out of Hyderabad and Vishakapatnam. It has asked the IPL to reconsider its decision, failing which it would seek legal recourse and, it said, “be justified in withdrawing from IPL Season-III”.PTI reported that the notice, sent to Shashank Manohar, the BCCI president, asked the IPL to reconsider its decision to relocate the games and claimed that the decision was taken “arbitrarily, unilaterally, without our client’s consent and in complete breach of the Franchise Agreement dated April 10, 2008”.It said the decision to shift the matches was against the objective of having franchisees from various regions of the country and against public interest and consequently was not acceptable to Deccan Chargers.The IPL announced on Saturday that it had shifted all Deccan’s home matches to Mumbai and Nagpur following the uncertainty in Andhra Pradesh over the separatist Telengana agitation. The decision had sparked outrage among political leaders – with senior government ministers calling for a pullout from the tournament – and in the Hyderabad Cricket Association but the franchise itself had so far responded with caution.The notice reiterated several issues raised earlier in the day by franchise chairman V Shankar. It said that the authorities concerned had given their permission for matches to be staged in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam and even the Telangana Joint Action Committee, which is heading the separatist movement, had agreed to extend its support to the IPL.It asked how the IPL could relocate the matches to Mumbai in the absence of any similar assurance from the Shiv Sena, the regional chauvinist party that has said it won’t allow Australian players in the city following the racist attacks on Indian students in Australia.The Shiv Sena’s threat, it said, would adversely affect the performance of the Deccan Chargers team, which includes Australian players, if they are compelled to play in Mumbai.The IPL had initially announced only the shifting of the opening match between Deccan Chargers and Kolkata Knight Riders, which has several events on the sidelines, from Hyderabad to Navi Mumbai’s D Y Patil Stadium.This past week had seen several reports of IPL matches being moved out of Hyderabad. Concerns over the political situation in Andhra Pradesh have already resulted in the shifting of an ODI between India and Sri Lanka from Visakhapatnam last December, and two ODIs scheduled for Hyderabad, during England women’s tour of India in February-March, have now been split between Bangalore and Mumbai. Also, spectators were barred from entering the stadium for the first two days of the Duleep Trophy final between West Zone and South Zone in Hyderabad because of a perceived security threat.Deccan are the defending champions, having beaten Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final in South Africa last year. The result was a total turnaround from their last-placed finish in the inaugural edition in 2008.

Shahid Afridi, the Pakistan allrounder, has been signed by Hampshire to play in the domestic Twenty20 Cup this summer. He follows Ajantha Mendis, the Sri Lankan spinner, to the county. “I am looking forward to playing for Hampshire and looking forward to a successful Twenty20 campaign,” said Afridi.Hampshire have also been in discussions to sign Shane Warne, their former captain, for the Twenty20 tournament, although these have yet to come to fruition. In an effort to raise the profile of England’s Twenty20 Cup competition, counties will be able to include four overseas players in their squads next season but only two will be allowed in each game. Adam Gilchrist and Sachin Tendulkar have been linked to Middlesex, and Cameron White will be rejoining his old county Somerset.”I am delighted that Shahid has signed to play for us in the Friends Provident T20,” said team manager Giles White. “He is renowned as one of the best Twenty20 players in the world and is a match-winner with both bat and ball. It is an exciting prospect for the club and its supporters to have two such exciting players involved in this year’s competition.”Afridi, 29, has risen to become one of the world’s most explosive Twenty20 players and is sure to have an impact on the competition this summer. He was player of the tournament at the inaugural ICC Twenty20 World Cup in 2007 and led Pakistan to victory in the 2009 competition with two half-centuries in the semi-final and final.

Scorecard
Ross Taylor, Victoria’s last-minute overseas replacement, was named Man of the Match for his fiery 58•Getty Images

An exciting finish to the opening match of the Twenty20 Big Bash in Brisbane was spoiled by rain, at which point Queensland required 37 runs in four overs to beat Victoria but were three short of the D/L par score.A close third-umpire decision to not award Queensland a six in the first over of their chase proved to be crucial: a freakish fielding effort from John Hastings at the fine-leg boundary was deemed to be clean and only one resulted from that play. Had the third umpire Norm McNamara called it a six, Queensland would have won by two runs. All the drama added to an already thrilling night that featured impressive debuts from Ross Taylor and Dwayne Bravo, who helped Victoria recover from a precarious 3 for 5.Debutant wicketkeeper Ben Dunk top-edged Dirk Nannes towards the fine-leg boundary where Hastings camped under the shot, leapt in the air and tapped it in the field of play. It appeared that he was outside the field of play when he left the ground and hence Dunk was awarded only the one run that he ran.With regard to the contentious call, on-field umpire Bruce Oxenford admitted it was something the lawmakers needed to review. “It’s an anomaly in the laws, but without the fieldsman being grounded, a boundary is not scored,” he told . “It’s clearly covered that a man can while positioning himself inadvertently cross the line. However, he wouldn’t be allowed to come running up the stands and jump off the fence because that would be intentionally leaving the field of play.”Chris Simpson, Queensland’s captain, initially protested but accepted the decision later. “The actual rule was different to what we thought and short of that we need to read our rule book a bit closer,” he said. “The way our team sees it is: rules are rules. It turned out to be a fantastic piece of fielding.”Chasing 158, Queensland had begun their reply in promising fashion, with openers James Hopes and Dunk providing an ideal platform with a 43-run stand in just over four overs. But their departures, three balls apart – Dunk holing out to Rob Quiney at midwicket and Hopes run out – swung the momentum the other way.Hastings then dismissed Nathan Reardon for a duck, before taking out Lee Carseldine, thanks to Cameron White’s stunning full-length catch at cover. In the space of three overs, Queensland had floundered from 0 for 43 to 4 for 56. Andrew Symonds, making his Big Bash debut, tried a rearguard effort but it was Craig Philipson who steered Queensland back into contention with an unbeaten 33 before rain arrived.Victoria earlier recovered from an early stumble to post a competitive score in difficult batting conditions. It was the contributions of the two overseas recruits, Bravo and Taylor, that rescued Victoria.Nathan Rimmington snared Brad Hodge in the second over for a duck, and Ryan Harris got rid off Rob Quiney in the next over, giving Dunk his first catch in first-class cricket. Three balls later, Carseldine took a splendid catch at second slip to pack off David Hussey for zero, leaving the Bushrangers stuttering at 3 for 5.Taylor had an early reprieve off Rimmington, but together with Cameron White, he steadied the innings, as the fourth-wicket partnership put on 77. Even though Taylor holed out to Symonds at cover after reaching his fifty, Bravo’s quickfire 36 off 18 balls, comprising two fours and three sixes, carried them past 150.

Group B

Tahir Maqsood’s five-wicket haul gave Multan the upper hand over Peshawar as the visitors were bowled out for a below-par 217 at the Multan Cricket Stadium. Maqsood took his first two wickets for consecutive balls to reduce Peshawar to 5 for 2. The innings’ top-scorer Fawad Ali (71) and Sajjad Ahmed (30) then added 85 and Azam Jan chipped in with 48. However the lower order failed to contribute at all. Maqsood took the last three wickets with only 16 added to the score. Rizwan Haider and Zulfiqar Babar took two wickets each.Half-centuries by the top three Faisalabad batsmen took their side to 259 for 5 on the first day of their match against Rawalpindi at the Iqbal Stadium. Imran Ali and Usama Shahroon added 98 for the first wicket before Shaharoon was run out for 54. Zeeshan Asif then partnered Ali in a 48-run stand in which he scored 71 off 126 balls. Nineteen-year-old right-arm fast bowler Mohammad Rameez dismissed both Asif and Ali while Sadaf Hussain and Rashid Latif took one apiece.Karachi Blues did better than Faisalabad reaching 299 for 2 through unbeaten centuries by Asad Shafiq and Wajihuddin against Hyderabad in Mirpur Khas. Karachi lost their first wicket for 14 when Shahzaib Hasan was caught off Mir Ali for 2. Khalid Latif scored 39 before being caught of Pir Zulfiqar with the score at 69. After that Shafiq and Wajihuddin took Karachi to a dominant position. Wajihuddin’s 108 included 15 fours while Shafiq’s 125 contained 13 fours.Mohammad Irshad’s three wickets kept Abbottabad to 236 for 5 against Lahore Ravi in Muridke. Irshad took two of the first three wickets to reduce Abbottabad to 78 for 3. Ghulam Mohammad (72) and Adnan Raees (64) then led a recovery, adding 93 for the fourth wicket. However the two fell in quick succession – Ghulam edged a catch to the keeper off Irshad and Raees was trapped leg before by Aamer Hayat – to leave Lahore an uphill task to achieve a sizeable total.Ashar Zaidi’s unbeaten 145 gave Islamabad hope of reaching a dominant total after they lost the first five wickets for 80 against Sialkot at the Jinnah Stadium. Islamabad lost three wickets for nine runs before Zaidi was joined by Naeem Anjum (62*) and the pair went on to ruin Sialkot’s early efforts by adding 211 for the fifth wicket. Sialkot used eight bowlers in a futile attempt to break the stand. Zaidi’s 145 came of just 163 balls and included 21 fours while Anjum’s 62 came of 137 balls with seven fours.

Group A

Habib Bank Limited‘s Irfan Fazil and Abdur Rahman took seven wickets between them as Pakistan Customs were bowled out for 238 in Islamabad. Only a 126-run stand between Rameez Aziz and Yasir Hussain prevented Customs from folding for much less. Aziz came to the crease with Customs at 50 for 3 and lost two partners with only 14 added to the total. Then he rebuilt the innings with Hussain before Fazil bowled him for a 90-ball 61. Hussain was bowled by Rahman soon after for a 136-ball 74.Rao Iftikhar Anjum took 5 for 44 as Karachi Whites were bowled out for 232 against Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited in Karachi. Murtaza Majeed and Afsar Nawaz scored half-centuries but no other batsman managed to score more than 36. The last five wickets fell for 50 runs. Mohammad Khalil took two wickets while Azhar Attari, Rehan Riaz and Zohaib Khan took one each. At stumps ZTBL trailed by 212 runs with ten wickets in hand.No such collapse at the Gaddafi Stadium where Khan Research Laboratories racked up 328 for 3 against Lahore Shalimar on the back of centuries by Saeed Anwar jnr and Mohammad Wasim. Anwar scored 44 of the 55 runs added for the first wicket with Azhar Ali. He then added 124 with Wasim. Anwar’s 126 included 21 fours while Wasim’s unbeaten 110 included 17 fours. Wasim and Bazid Khan will look to score the second century-stand of the innings – they need 15 – when they resume batting on day two.Mohammad Hafeez and Ali Waqas scored half-centuries but Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited slipped to 227 for 6 against Pakistan International Airlines in Gujranwala. Hafeez and Hamza Mubeen added 67 for the first wicket before Aizaz Cheema had Mubeen caught for 17. Hafeez fell soon after becoming the first of Anwar Ali’s three wickets. SNGPL fell to 127 for 6 before Waqas (80*) and Adnan Akmal (40*) added 90 unbeaten runs to take them to a reasonable score at stumps.Sui Southern Gas Corporation fared just a little better, reaching 237 for 4 against Water and Power Development at the Sheikhupura Stadium. Wajid Ali (66) and Saeed Bin Nasir (73*) made half-centuries but the rest of the SSGC top-order batsmen made no significant contributions to the total.

Two uncapped players, left-hand middle-order batsman Thilina Kandamby and wicketkeeper-batsman Kaushal Silva, have been named in Sri Lanka’s Test squad for the tour of India starting next month. Another major change in the 16-man line-up for the three-Test series was a recall for left-arm fast bowler Chanaka Welegedera after a two-year absence from the senior side. The notable absentees are opener Malinda Warnapura and middle-order batsman Chamara Kapugedera.Kandamby has made it to the Test squad on the strength of his exceptional one-day form. Since his recall to the one-day side last year, Kandamby has been one of Sri Lanka’s consistent performers scoring 618 runs from 17 ODIs at an average of 44.14 including five half-centuries.Silva is highly rated by captain Kumar Sangakkara, who once said that it was the presence of the world’s best Test wicketkeeper in the side, Prasanna Jayawardene, that was keeping Silva on the sidelines. A right-hand middle order batsman Silva has been a prolific scorer for Sinhalese Sports Club in the domestic circuit and captained Sri Lanka A against Pakistan A early this year.Welegedera, 28, played his only Test against England at Galle in 2007 where he took four wickets for 76 and was hailed as the likely successor to Sri Lanka’s most successful fast bowler, Chaminda Vaas. However, Welegedera failed to live up to the high expectations and faded out of contention until last season when he came back strongly with some inspiring bowling performances for Wayamba in the provincial tournament to stake a claim for a place in the Test side.Welagedera also gets a nod in for the two Twenty20s along with hard-hitting Chintaka Jayasinghe and Kaushalya Weeraratne and allrounder Muthumudalige Pushpakumara. For the five one-day internationals, fast bowler Dilhara Fernando has been recalled.Tests: Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Tharanga Paranavitana, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Thilina Kandamby, Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), Kaushal Silva, Chanaka Welegedara, Thilan Thushara, Nuwan Kulasekera, Dammika Prasad, Rangana Herath, Ajantha Mendis.
Twenty20s: Kumar Sangakkara (capt/wk), Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedara, Angelo Mathews, Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Kaushal Weeraratne, Ajantha Mendis, Muthumudalige Pushpakumara, Chanaka Welegedara, Thilan Thushara, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekera.
ODIs: Kumar Sangakkara (capt/wk), Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedara, Tilina Kandamby, Upul Tharanga, Angelo Mathews, Thilan Samaraweera, Sanath Jayasuriya, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Thilan Thushara, Nuwan Kulasekera, Ajantha Mendis.

Alastair Cook, England’s Test opener and vice-captain, has said the difficult tour of South Africa is the beginning of a “new era”. Cook was part of the Ashes-winning side this summer but was fully aware that England need to overcome the weight of history if they harbour hopes of a victorious campaign over the best side in the world.”Without a doubt we can do something special and beat South Africa. Beating Australia was a huge thing for us, but now we can stay together and grow as a team and in truth we’ve already put a line under the Ashes and have moved on,” he said ahead of England’s ten-day stay in Bloemfontein. “That is the philosophy of the two Andys [Flower and Strauss], for us to focus on the next job in hand and not think too much about the past. It is about constant improvement as individuals and as a team and that is where we are.”Cook seemed to be mirroring the attitude of his captain Andrew Strauss when he spoke of the approach England were taking towards the Test series. “It is always an exciting time at the start of the tour, and it is almost the start of a new era for this young group of players going to a tough place to play cricket,” he said. “The challenge is there for us and after what we did in the summer it is a great place to go and follow on from that.”It doesn’t have the same hype as the Ashes but on paper they are the No. 1 side in the world and we’re going to play them in their back yard, so it doesn’t get any bigger than that. The last time we went to play Australia away, they were the No 1. side and we saw what happened [losing the Test series 5-0], so we know what a big challenge this is going to be and it is something we can definitely rise to.”After the Ashes victory in 2009, Cook went back to Essex and worked with Graham Gooch to rectify certain technical issues. He will be challenged once again when he faces one of the best fast-bowling attacks in the world. “I’ve got to score the runs expected of an opening batsman and it is my main priority,” he said. “Hopefully this winter will see me score plenty, and from a leadership point of view you can never ask a player to do anything you are not prepared to do yourself.”

Steve Harmison’s international career appears over after he was omitted from England’s Test squad for the tour of South Africa. His Durham team-mate Liam Plunkett was preferred after an impressive domestic season and is recalled to the international set-up for the first time since 2007. Kevin Pietersen has been included in both the Test and one-day squads although he will miss the two Twenty20 internationals as he continues to recover from his Achilles surgery.Geoff Miller, the national selector, explained that Harmison, who said he was keen to tour South Africa but not as a bit-part player, hadn’t produced enough performances in recent times to justify selection. “Stephen has not been included in the Test squad because we feel his form has not been consistent enough over the past 12 months to justify a regular place in the side and we want to give an opportunity to other players to make a case for selection.”The selectors have made a few surprise calls to fill the vacant positions in both parties with Luke Wright included in the Test squad instead of a frontline batsman, while Alastair Cook and Sajid Mahmood are recalled to the one-day side. Wright averaged 47.90 with the bat in eight Championship matches and took 21 wickets at 33.80 to nudge the selectors, while Cook struck back-to-back Pro40 hundreds for Essex after the Ashes.As expected Jonathan Trott comes into the limited-overs squad as a replacement for Ravi Bopara, who missed out altogether after a poor Ashes series and disappointing performances in the recent ODIs. Steven Davies has been chosen as the reserve wicketkeeper for the Test leg of the tour following his last-minute call-up for the Champions Trophy and Adil Rashid is back-up to Graeme Swann with Monty Panesar omitted. Joe Denly, who had been tipped for a Test call-up, has to make do with a place in the one-day squad only.”We are delighted to welcome Steven Davies and Luke Wright into the Test squad for the first time,” Miller said. “Steven is a player of great potential who has been a consistent performer for his county and he will act as understudy to Matt Prior in South Africa.Luke Wright has been rewarded with a surprise place in the Tests squad•Associated Press

“The retirement of Andrew Flintoff has created a vacancy for an all-rounder in the squad and while we do not see Luke Wright as a like for like replacement for Andrew, we are excited by the way in which his all-round game continues to develop and believe he can make an impact at Test level.”Jonathan Trott who has made an immediate impact in our Test side and has also shown through his performances at domestic level that he has the talent and temperament to succeed in the shorter forms of the game.””Liam Plunkett has worked hard to improve all aspects of his game since he last played for England and his selection is reward for consistently putting in strong performances for Durham both with bat and ball. He will provide strong competition for a place in our pace attack this winter.”Plunkett took 60 wickets at 23.35 and scored 400 runs at 44.44 as Durham retained their Championship title and now has the chance to add to his nine Test caps, the last of which came against West Indies, at Old Trafford, in 2007. Like Plunkett, Mahmood was first selected by Duncan Fletcher but faded from the scene after the 2007 World Cup. Miller, though, feels he is ready for a return as the selectors try to find an additional cutting edge to the one-day attack.”Mahmood is another player who has had a taste of international cricket before and will be equally keen to make an impression in the one-day arena after continuing to show good form with Lancashire,” he said. “Alastair Cook has shown great determination to improve his one-day game this summer, made runs at domestic level in both 50-over and Twenty20 cricket and the selectors believe now is the right time to re-introduce him to our one-day side.”Owais Shah has been dropped despite his 89-ball 98 against South Africa at the Champions Trophy, while Bopara’s omission was expected after he was left out for the final Ashes Test and also lost his one-day slot before Matt Prior’s illness in South Africa last week.”Ravi Bopara and Owais Shah will, of course, be disappointed not to be included in either squad but they are both high class players and will remain in the selectors’ thoughts as we go forward,” Miller said.Paul Collingwood has been confirmed as the Twenty20 captain for the two matches that begin the tour in November. They will be followed by five ODIs before the four-Test series starts at Centurion Park on December 16.Test squad Andrew Strauss (capt), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Paul Collingwood, Steven Davies, Graham Onions, Kevin Pietersen, Liam Plunkett, Matt Prior, Adil Rashid, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott, Luke WrightOne-day squad Andrew Strauss (capt), James Anderson, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Joe Denly, Sajid Mahmood, Eoin Morgan, Graham Onions, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Adil Rashid, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright

Paul Stirling’s century lit up the opening day of the ICC Under-19 World Cup Qualifiers in King City, as his team Ireland beat Netherlands comprehensively by 75 runs. Ireland, who were sent in to bat at the Maple leaf South-West Ground, posted a competitive 254. Stirling walked in in the seventh over and took control of the innings till the 48th, when he was dismissed for 102 by Tim Gruitjers. He was helped along the way by James Shannon, who made a breezy 50 off 41 balls. The pair added a brisk 96 for the fourth wicket, scoring at more than seven and a half per over. Netherlands stumbled to 13 for 4 in their reply and never really recovered from seamer Shane Gatkate’s early strikes. Philip van den Brandeler resisted with 85 but it was a lone effort as his side managed to bat out 50 overs to end on 179 for 8.”I am just happy we got the win to be honest. It was hard early on but we managed to keep wickets in hand and make a big score. We thought 250 was well above par,” Stirling said. “Our aim is to just keep winning and make the qualifier. One of our ambitions is to come here and win the tournament and send a message to the Test teams that when we qualify we are going to be up for the event.”Raymond Haoda’s five-wicket haul set up Papua New Guinea’s easy four-wicket win against Hong Kong at the South-East Ground. His opening spell reduced Hong Kong to 3 for 2 and overall it was a sorry effort by the batsmen, as only two managed to touch double figures. Irfan Ahmed’s counter-attacking 88, which featured 11 fours and two sixes, helped Hong Kong bat 50 overs. Waqas Barkat supported him with 31 to push the score to 160. Tony Ura guided the chase with 65 and although they lost six wickets, they were in no danger of losing.”I expected to do well for my team. I am hoping that we will do well in this event and win the tournament as we have a very good side and we have good batting and bowling,” said Haoda, who took 5 for 24. “I would like to qualify for the World Cup so I can play against the best teams in the world and make my team-mates proud.”Ryan Corns’ all-round effort helped USA prevail in a low-scoring encounter against Vanuatu at the North-East Ground. Corns top scored with 45 as USA were bowled out for 168. Legspinner Simpson Obed did the damage with 4 for 29. Vanuatu proceeded to 76 for 3 before a batting collapse cost them the game. Yash Shah, the left-arm spinner, took two wickets and effected a run-out as USA plucked three wickets for ten runs. After Lazaro Carlot fell for 50, the lower order crumbled to Corns, who finished with 3 for 7 in four overs.The USA captain Shiva Vashishat was satisfied with the way his team pulled through. “It was a tight game but we managed to make it look pretty comfortable in the end,” he said. “One of the motivations for the younger guys is that our CEO (Don Lockerbie) wants us to come and make it through to the senior team and make it a younger USA national side.The hosts, Canada, didn’t have it so easy at Malton. After being shot out for 106 in 42.5 overs, their opponents Uganda couldn’t even match that, crashing to 62. Nitesh Kumar top scored for Canada with 40. The chief destroyers for Canada were Hiral Patel (5 for 20) and Arsalan Qadir (4 for 19).”We think Uganda will be one of the better teams in this event so it was good for us to get a victory,” Rustum Bhatti, the Canada captain, said. “The pitch was a bit tough to bat on but I thought 150 or 175 would be a good total. To get 106 was not one of our better performances and we will be working hard in our next game to try and improve this.”

After three days of mediation, Cricket South Africa and Gauteng Cricket Board (GCB) have “managed to find common ground in certain areas” in their dispute over the stripping of the Wanderers’ international status.The tussle started when the GCB accused the CSA chief executive Gerald Majola, the BCCI and IPL organisers of mismanaging the 2009 event soon after the league ended. In response, the CSA members’ forum warned that the South African board would not allot any international matches to Wanderers unless GCB apologised.On Monday, lawyers Brian Currin and Khabo Mamba were appointed by the sports minister to mediate the dispute. “The participation of both parties has at all times been constructive and in good faith,” they said in a statement on Saturday. “As a result the parties have managed to find common ground in certain areas. The process will continue into next week and we are hopeful that further progress will be made.”If the issue is not resolved, Wanderers could lose out on three matches during England’s tour to South Africa in November-December.

Andrew Flintoff has vowed to play through pain in his attempt to be fit for next week’s third Ashes Test at Edgbaston. Flintoff’s role has assumed added significance after Kevin Pietersen was ruled out of the summer and the allrounder said he will do whatever it takes to play.”There are no guarantees for anybody. But I have three Test matches left, and I’d do anything to get through, maybe put myself through things I wouldn’t do if I was looking more long term,” Flintoff told the Independent. “I will do whatever it takes to get out on the field. If I don’t it has to be something extremely serious. The encouraging thing was that I bowled regularly over 90mph at Lord’s.”With a ten-day break before the teams reconvene for the third Test, Flintoff said he would do as little as possible to ensure he was fully rested and ready for the contest. “The knee was sore on Tuesday and it’s still sore but I’ll rest up in front of the telly for the next few days and then get ready for Edgbaston.”Pietersen’s departure is a massive blow to England’s morale and momentum after a week in which they finally ended a 75-year jinx in beating Australia at Lord’s, and England need Flintoff’s skills as a batsman as much as his fast bowling in a bid to win the Ashes.Flintoff entered the second Test amid rumours that his dodgy right knee might force him to bow out immediately after game, but instead turned in a Man-of-the-Match performance with second-innings figures of 5 for 92, including ten high-octane overs straight off the reel on the decisive final morning.