ICC deals with India for Pakistan's Security

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has guaranteed Pakistan that it will directly covenant with Indian authorities to make sure infallible security measures for its cricket team for the 2011 World Cup matches in India.

One of the most significant clauses of the contract signed between the ICC and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in Dubai last week states that the game's governing body will straightly deal with the security cover for the Pakistan team when it plays in India during the 2011 World Cup.

PCB required complete guarantees from the ICC that the players will get top-class security cover in India during the World Cup before the board agreed to give up its legal measures against the ICC over the hosting rights of the 2011 World Cup, according to sources.

The ICC will be directly dealing with getting Indian visas issued for viewers and media people from Pakistan during the World Cup.

Pakistan was supposed to host 14 matches of the World Cup and was one of the four original co-hosts of the competition along with India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

However, in April this year the ICC decided to reposition Pakistan's World Cup games after the Sri Lankan cricketers were attacked by terrorists in Lahore in March.

Kirsten counsels of India risk at Champions Trophy

India will pull through swiftly from their early exit at the Twenty20 World Cup and are sure to grow a sober challenge at the Champions Trophy in South Africa next month, coach Gary Kirsten said.

India have summon up Rahul Dravid to the one-day team for the first time in almost two years to strengthen their batting on pacy South African pitches at the Sept. 22-Oct. 5 Champions Trophy.

A young Indian batting unit struggled against short-pitched bowling in the Twenty20 World Cup in England in June.

"We have had a good run right from the tour of Australia and there is great team spirit, though the World Twenty20 was a setback," the former South Africa opener told reporters after the national team's training camp in Bangalore on Thursday.

"We are very positive and all of us want to move on," Kirsten said.

India, who will also participate in a tri-series in Sri Lanka that featuring New Zealand from Sept. 8-14, have not lost a one-day series in the past year following a surprise tri-series victory in Australia last February.

"We take pride in our consistency over a long period. It is a quality team and the players are mentally fresh and look good physically too," Kirsten said.

"It is good to have Rahul Dravid back in the team. He adds massive value to the team," Kirsten said of the former captain, who is only the second Indian after Sachin Tendulkar to score over 10,000 runs in both test and one-day forms.

Tendulkar has also returned after opting out of the one-day series in the West Indies, which the tourists won 2-1 last month, but explosive opener Virender Sehwag will miss both tournaments after undergoing shoulder surgery.

Ishant Sharma will spearhead the five-man pace attack in the absence of experienced left-armer Zaheer Khan, who has been ruled out of action until the end of the year after undergoing surgery on an injured shoulder.

The Training Begins For The Men In Blues

The Indian cricket squad got down to business on Thursday after a more or less two-month long break and began the four-day training camp being held at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

The taming camp is being held under the observant eyes of Coach Gary Kirsten and trainer Ramji Srinivasan.

Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Harbhajan Singh, Sachin Tendulkar were seen at the ground practicing hard in advance of the tri-series which will be played between India, Sri Lanka and New Zealand from Sept 8 to14, 2009.

Daniel Vettori claims 300th Test wicket

Daniel Vettori became the eighth player and first left-arm bowler in account to take 300 wickets and score 3000 test runs as he got two wickets Sri Lanka on the first day of the second test of their enduring series.

With this new record, Vettori has become one of the supreme all rounders of all time, currently standing at the eight place, behind Chaminda Vaas, Imran Khan, Ian Botham, Shaun Pollock, Sir Richard Hadlee, India's Kapil Dev and table topper Shane Warne, who has scored 3154 runs and taken 708 wickets in 145 matches.

While Vettori may not exceed Warne's wickets tally, he will surely go beyond Kapil Dev's tally of 5248 runs in the years to come. Vettori, who was eager to claim his 300th wicket, brought himself on in the 11th over of the innings. He first took out Tharanga Paranavitana who was caught at slip by Ross Taylor. Two balls after that Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara had achieved his half century; Vettori claimed his 300th wicket as the batsman shattered straight to the sweeper.

Vettori made his first appearance against England back in 1997 when he was just 18 years old. Till date he is the youngest New Zealand player to debut in Tests and has metamorphosed on his own to become the main strike bowler for his side. He is now the second most flourishing bowler for New Zealand, second only to the great Sir Richard Hadlee.

Vettori has scored three centuries in tests. Vettori scored his 1,000th run at an average of 17.24 but speed up to 42.52 when he reached the 2,000 run mark as he scored the runs in just 22 matches. As of March 2009, Vettori's average batting at number 8 was 45.91 (for Tests) and is currently the best average of all time for a player batting at number 8.

Ishant Ready for Tri Nation Series

Seamer Ishant Sharma is all set for the new season starts with the tri-nation series in Sri Lanka starting on September 8.He felt that the side will miss senior players Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan in the upcoming ODI series in Colombo — involving India, New Zealand and hosts Sri Lanka and in the great honorable Champions Trophy.

“Sehwag is our important batsman and Zaheer is our main strike bowler. Their presence in the lineup is always cheering. We will definitely miss them,” said Ishant, who was here for a promotional event.

“The stress is always there to perform, and I am sure the team will live up to the anticipation.”

About his personal form, Ishant said: “I am working hard for the last few weeks. We have to regularly improve our performance.”

About the controversy surrounding Delhi cricketers and Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA), He said: “I do not want to remark on this matter. I can only say that I was a part of Delhi team and I have not left them. I will go on playing for Delhi.”

ESPN Star Sports plans to live Two big Cricketing Actions

The two Cricketing actions, The Champions Trophy and Champions T20 League is going to be watched over the next couple of months, ESPN Star Sports (ESS) is all set to roll out its advertising promotion to build publicity among fans.

The overarching theme of the campaign is ‘Diwali Hogi Cup Wali’. It will commence in the first week of next month.

ESS marketing director Nirmal Dayani said that both these properties see India’s pride at venture. “In the Champions Trophy, India plays other countries to emerge victorious. In the Champions League, the three IPL franchises representing India battle the top teams in other leagues. Indians rejoice two things – victory in cricket and Diwali. Our theme radiated from this background.”

Dayani notes that after India’s unsatisfactory show in the Twenty20 World Cup, there is a desire among fans for India to regain the cup. This thirst is what the campaign takes on.

ESS will look at making a point that during the festive season there are reasons for Indians to celebrate besides Diwali. While not relate the budget for the campaign, Dayani notes that there will be a healthy mix of above and below-the-line activities. In terms of below-the-line activation, the broadcaster is looking at film tie-ups.

The sports broadcaster will use film stars of a big Bollywood release as part of its drive.

This would be the first stage of the campaign. The presenter would also be looking at interactivity where winners of consumer promotions will get to fly to South Africa to watch the event. When the Champions Trophy kicks off, the campaign would shift gears. The second leg would commence where it will focus on the Champions T20 League.

ESS is also planning to give live action for these two Cricket events.

ECB tight-lipped over Flintoff

The England & Wales Cricket Board has refused to comment on reports that Andrew Flintoff requires knee reconstruction surgery.Flintoff has already confirmed that he will retire from Test cricket at the end of the current Ashes series due to long-running knee and ankle problems.

The all-rounder has been named in the one-day side for seven games against Australia which follow the Test series and also September's ICC Champions Trophy.

However, a newspaper report on Friday claimed Flintoff was likely to undergo surgery immediately after the fifth Test which would effectively rule him out for up to nine months.

"We are making no further comment on his medical condition," said an ECB spokesman.

"We are leaving him to concentrate on the task at hand, which is on the field.

"As we have said previously an operation remains an option at the end of the series.

"He will be reassessed at the end of this current match."

Delhi Ranji Row

The circumstances at the Delhi District and Cricket union has attained boiling point as more and more earlier cricketers and selectors have joined Sehwag in his remonstration against dishonesty.

Now Bantoo Singh who is a selector with DDCA has also extended his hold for Sehwag, on Thursday he stated that one cannot ignore someone as reputable as Sehwag and that the extensive corruption that is distressing the team selection must be put to a stop at the earliest. A day ago four heavyweights of Indian cricket as Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra and Gautam Gambhir also joined forces with Sehwag.

The DDCA associates are up in opposition to the wall as Gambhir and Ishant today determined to give the Ranji trophy training camp at the Ferozshah Kotla ground a miss. Sehwag too did not attened due to his shoulder injury. “I am totally behind Sehwag. There should be clearness in the selection process and if the circumstance remains same, I wouldn't hesitate switching to a different state," said Gambhir.

A day ago Virender Sehwag threatened to quit the Delhi Ranji Team if the DDCA members don't stop controlling the selection board. The Delhi District and Cricket Association is known for ruthless corruption as worthy players never manage to make it to the Ranji side while those with deep pockets but no talent do.

"I am trying to leave Delhi and play for Hariyana. I spoke to the Delhi District and Cricket Association (DDCA) president, Mr. Arun Jaitley, and he has asked me to discuss the topic with him and then take a verdict. If I am not pleased with the outcome of our gathering, I will surely leave Delhi," Sehwag had said.

"There is too much intrusion and exploitation from the sports committee in selection board. The sports committee has got too much power. There is more interference at the under-16 and under-19 levels than the Ranji Trophy. In a squad of 15, for instance, the sports committee tries to influence the selectors and slip in one or two of 'their own' boys,"

Change in the Schedule of Tri-Series

India will play continuous matches in opposition to New Zealand and Sri Lanka in next month's tri-series here after the organizers rearranged the competition following a request from the BCCI.

According to the new agenda, India's first match in opposition to New Zealand has been pushed back by a day from the earlier scheduled September 10.

"The BCCI requested us to postpone the first match by a day and we did that," a Sri Lanka Cricket official told.

India will play its second match the next day, against the Lankans, on September 12.

The BCCI ask for the change in schedule so that its top players can take part in the September 1-8 Corporate Trophy at home.

The Indian players will arrive at Colombo on September 9, a day after the tri-series opens at the Premadasa stadium here with a match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

Sachin's Idea to make kids watching Cricket from his own Experience

Sachin Tendulkar has recommended a exclusive way to maintain fan notice in Test cricket involve school children for free of cost.

Speaking at the instigate of Harsha Bhogle's new book Out of the Box - Watching the Game We Love, Tendulkar, the highest run-scorer in Test as well as one-day cricket, mentioned his own example as a cricket fan which facilitate him to realize his dream.

Book launch was followed by a driven panel discussion on the changing face of the game of cricket.

"I had recommended to the BCCI in one of their gatherings that when I was a 10-year-old boy, the first time I entered a stadium was when West Indies were playing India in Mumbai," he said. "That is still fixed in my memories - that first walk inside the stadium.

"The BCCI should try and do that for school kids and college-going boys," he added. "Maybe on Saturdays and Sundays one stand could be kept for school children and other students. It would be free of become sort of an enticement for the toppers.

"They should be cost for the toppers, whether they are toppers in sports or various other subjects. But it could allow seeing the Test cricket, because that first preface to live cricket inside a stadium will always stay with their memories forever. Out of those students, even if 10 per cent get transformed into cricket fans, then that is accomplishment for us."

Tendulkar, who has written the preface to Bhogle's book, was given the first copy at the launch. The book is a collection of Bhogle's weekly columns for The Indian Express. This 275-page book is published by Viking from Penguin Books India.

India On The Right Move

The selectors have done the accurate move by evoking Rahul Dravid for ODIs. The move to drop him was a bad decision in the first place. The selectors felt that Dravid at 34 was too old for ODIs and there were juvenile cricketers all set to take his place. Both the premises have proved to be wrong.

Dravid has since re - invented his game to play the Twenty20 format of game. He was outstanding at the IPL championship in South Africa this year. In disparity, the players who swapped Dravid have botched to establish themselves in the squad. They couldn't play straight seam bowling or the short ball. It is only sensible to wait for that their technical limitations will be exposed on the bouncy tracks in South Africa, the venue for the Champions Trophy. In contrast, Dravid has a extraordinary ODI record on South African pitches. He has scored 850 runs in 27 matches with an average of 44.73. He can acclimatize his batting according to the circumstances and is one of the best finishers in the game.

Team India has to field its best players. The importance must be on performance and not non-cricket categories like youth. The arguable point is whether the batsman is scoring runs and is a sensibly good fielder. If he be eligible on both grounds, he has to play. A good team must have a mix of adolescence and experience. Team India has a youthful feel about it and the only player in the squad who is over 30 is Sachin Tendulkar. Dravid will bring in a count of experience and can guide young players in the team. Few international players have scored over 10,000 runs in ODIs and Tests.

Indian selectors must learn a lesson or two from their Australian complements about team selection. Australians play their best players until they slow down. Young players are made to serve their apprenticeship until there is a vacancy in the side. We emerge to fast-track young players and their inexperience and immaturity show up when they play international cricket. Blood 16-year-olds if they have the aptitude of a Tendulkar, otherwise wait for them to grow and allow their game to established. That way they'll serve the team for long.

The Best Ever Chapions Trophy in 2009

Queries have been raised about Champions Trophy's weight in an already packed international calendar but the ICC has guaranteed that it would be an overall a different experience when the biennial event gets on the go next month in South Africa.

Authoritatively launching from September 22nd to October 5th tournament in South Africa, ICC head executive Haroon Lorgat said the event, offering a enormous USD four million prize money, would conceal all its earlier editions.

"This ICC Champions Trophy is pretty different and more exciting compared to all the ones that went before," said Lorgat.

"Successfully, it is in one location with two world-class venues at The Wanderers and Centurion. It is a short, sharp event with just the top eight-ranked ODI teams battling in this international contest," he said. "The event is all about esteem.

Dhoni Plan for Next Tri-Series in Srilanka

By means of only three days to go for the selection of the Indian cricket team for the Sri Lanka tri-series, improbability still emerge over Delhi dare devil Virender Sehwag. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni botched to authenticate on whether the hurted opener would be available for the tour.

Sehwag is now undergoing treatment after his shoulder surgery in June and skipped the pre-season fitness camp out in Delhi.

“Sehwag is improving every day. He is getting all set for the Champions Trophy. But whether he will be available for the Sri Lanka series, it will be too soon to say right now,” Dhoni said at a press discussion held for the forthcoming Kolkata Fashion Week here.

On the other hand, the Indian skipper said he was looking forward to have Sehwag back in the side as his presence will promote the side.
The BCCI has inquired Sehwag to report back on August 15 for reviewing the level of his recovery.
Dhoni said the squad might have a preliminary camp previous to the tri-series starting in the month of September 8. Apart from India and hosts Sri Lanka, New Zealand is the third side in the series.

“We might have the preparatory camp will help us get into the channel and get ready for the season ahead,” Dhoni said.

IPL Season 3 to Start next year

The Champions of 2009 DLF IPL Deccan Chargers will battle with Kolkata Knight Riders at Hyderabad in the stating match of the 60-match IPL season 3 to be played from March 12, 2010 to April 25, 2010. This was declared by Lalit Modi, Chairman of the IPL Governing Council.

The added match will be a play–off for the third and fourth place between the losing two teams in semifinals.

It was also said that Mumbai Indians will play a few matches at Nagpur, Deccan Chargers will play few matches at Visakhapatnam, Kings XI Punjab at Dharamsala and Rajasthan Royals at Ahmedabad.

Modi also pronounced that in 2011 two more authorized teams would be listed to make for 10 teams and playing 94 matches in 12 centers.

The governing board has also in an opinion decided to give a chance for former ICL players to feature from the 2009 event.

“The BCCI had taken a conclusion that the former insurgent players, who accepted the reprieve offer by May 31, will not be allowed entry into the IPL for 12 months.

“But the Working Committee is probable to allow them and subject to some strategy.

It’s been planned that they should not be paid lower than Rs. 8 lakh and in surfeit of Rs. 20 lakh. It’s up to the BCCI to draft the strategy and identify players in the two categories.

“If a franchise had signed in a player from the earlier ICL group, it will be treated as null and invalid,” said Modi.

Illuminating that the operating cost for season II held in South Africa were much higher, Mr. Modi said the modalities of making up the shortfall of the eight franchises will be addressed at a conference next week with the team owners.

“The prices of tickets were much lower than it was in India in 2008 and the capacity at each ground in South Africa was lower than the grounds in India. Taking all this into consideration we will work out ways to meet the loss of the team owners. The IPL will try to understand all issues and cover the shortfall.”

Important changes for Season Three :

A noteworthy change has also been made to the strategic time out for the season III next year. The fielding skipper will have the choice to take a two and half minute between the 6th and 10th overs and the batsman will have the option to take a two and half minute between the 11th and 16th overs. So totally 5 minutes only in an inning totally 10 minutes for a match, it has been divided into four which saves more time it seems the same time but it is not a irritating one for the players and the viewrs.

IPL will use the services of ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit; Transfer window from December 15 to January 5, 2010; All capped international players will have to go through a public sale that will be decided in discussion with the franchises; IPL to maintain $ 7 million cap at the sale; Players to obtain NOC from member countries of ICC every year.

This is to sustain the supreme nature of the ICC’s Future Tour Programme (FTP); Icon player status to be eradicated.

Injury Keep Backs the Pietersen

English All-Rounder Kevin Pietersen's recuperation from an Achilles operation has suffered a hold up after he was enforced to go again to hospital with contaminated scar tissue.

Pietersen went under the operation last month after stressed to play a full part in the first two Ashes Tests in opposition to Australia.

He had previously been ruled out of the rest of the series after annoying the long-running problem throughout the second Test victory at Lord's.

Now the England and Wales Cricket Board has established that the 29-year-old batsman has returned to hospital for additional treatment.

Pietersen had been inundated by the trouble since England's tour to the West Indies in March.

He accounted further discomfort following his spell in the Indian Premier League in April and was then enforced to miss the one-day series against the West Indies when they toured England in May.

Pietersen has been listed in England's initial 30-man squad for the ICC Champions Trophy, which begins in South Africa on September 21.

England Players Sent to County matches to get Back their Form

Ravi Bopara and Ian Bell, who are the England's out-of-form middle-order batsmen, are along with five players who have been released by the ECB to play county cricket in an effort to recover form before of the final Ashes Test starting on August 20 at The Oval. Alastair Cook, Graeme Swann and Graham Onions are the others who have been made offered to their counties for the next round of Championship matches.

Bopara and Cook will play for Essex in opposition to Middlesex, who will not have Andrew Strauss' services, at Lord's from Tuesday while Bell and Swann will face each other when Warwickshire meet Nottinghamshire.

"Following discussions with the England squad management, it has been determined to make a number of players offered to their counties for four-day cricket this week," ECB administration director Hugh Morris said. "We are conscious that we underperformed with bat and ball at Headingley and this decision is designed to give players and prospect to spend time in the middle and get overs under their belt ahead of the vital fifth npower Test at The Brit Oval next week."

England's middle-order, consist of Bopara, Bell and Paul Collingwood, who is not available to Durham, added a worthless 16 runs between them in two innings at Headingley. Bopara has been in poor form right during the series, scoring 105 runs at an standard of 15, while Bell has made only 64 runs in three innings since he swapped the injured Kevin Pietersen at No. 4. Cook's performances have also dipped - he now averages 29 after four Tests - while Collingwood has scored only 151 in five innings since his match-saving 74 in Cardiff.

Kumble Making out the WADA Issue

Former Indian cricketer Anil Kumble has united to the International Cricket Council board to arrange out the WADA issue with the BCCI.

The associates of the board, former Indian Test captain Anil Kumble, BCCI secretary N Srinivasan and ICC chief Advisor IS Bindra will try and make amends with the BCCI over WADA's controversial 'whereabouts' clause. The group would report back to the ICC Board at the earliest probable opportunity.

According to the new indenture by the World Anti-Doping Agency, each player of each team must report his whereabouts every single day for every three whole months. All the other international cricket teams have contracted to the clause and have sealed the deal. However, superior players and the BCCI oppose with this rule and rebuff to submit.

The new system by BCCI will feature techniques to test the players without having to bring up every single detail of their whereabouts. Goes without saying, the BCCI has faced a lot of criticism from the ICC and the other teams. Indian sports Minister Manohar Singh Gill has insist to the BCCI to happily agree to the WADA rules. However the cricket board decline to accept due to the privacy security issues, particularly during off seasons.

In the meantime the International Registered Testing Pool (IRTP) will be headed by Tim Kerr and also includes ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat. "I am pleased we have represented this group as I believe it will help to determine the practical concerns of Indian players," Lorgat said.

BCCI has come up with its own plan. "This year, the BCCI will first tutor every association about dope testing," chief executive officer Ratnakar Shetty told.

"We can't just issue patterns of WADA and anticipate them to read it. The language used by WADA is complicate to understand, so we'll be engaging specialists to give instructions on this," he said.

Vettori Looks for a Win in Next Test Battle with Sri Lanka

New Zealand cricket skipper Daniel Vettori is certain his side has the ability to compete with Sri Lanka and India in its forthcoming test and limited overs series, saying the only thing his team be short of experience.

"We have not played a lot of test cricket so our shows haven’t been as excellent as they should be," Vettori told to reporters. "This side has the capacity to succeed. We have to just get some performances under our restraint."

The Kiwis arrived in Sri Lanka on Tuesday to play two test matches and a tri-nation limited-overs series in opposition to the hosts and India.

The 30-year-old Vettori is the most skilled player in the side with 92 test matches while 11 players in his 15-member test squad have only played 95 test matches between them.

Previously in this year, New Zealand played in India in a three-match home test series which they lost to the result of 1-0.

In the meantime, Sri Lanka is being carried high after thrashing Pakistan 2-0 in last month's test series and has taken an incontrovertible 3-0 lead in their five-match limited-overs series with two matches still to be played.

"Our buoyancy grows with every win, we must take this into the next series," Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara said.

The first test match among Sri Lanka and New Zealand will be played in Galle from August. 18 2009.

Yuvaraj Speaks About Dope Tests

Yuvraj Singh has made a talk at the disparagement over the Indian cricketers' verdict to eliminate the World Anti Doping Agency's set of laws regarding drug testing, asking for cricketers to be treated differently from other sportsmen. "Their sports and our sport are different, we play more and we get very little time with our family and I feel we are traveling more. We are playing a lot of time in a year and we should be given more freedom, with due esteem to other sports."

Indian cricketers have raised concerns that the code's situation phrase will need them to give away information that could breach the solitude and intimidate their security. However, several top Indian athletes previously tested by WADA have said the code does not violate on privacy. The Indian sports minister MS Gill authorized the view, saying all national sports bodies and players should support the WADA and hold to its set of laws. The BCCI plans to ask the ICC to walk out of the WADA umbrella and develop a cricket-specific anti-doping code, but cricket's main body is improbable to support such a proposal.

The wide-ranging of traveling, Yuvraj said, gave India's cricketers too few days to spend at home each year. "After nine months of playing, we come home for just ten days," he said. "We don't want somebody to interfere upon our privacy for dope tests during that few days. We have put out our position in front of the BCCI and they will speak to the ICC."

England Making Strong Bowling

England strengthens their bowling options by adding the names of Ryan Sidebottom and Steve Harmison in a 14-man team for the fourth Ashes Test in opposition to Australia at Headingley starting this week.

England, who lead the series 1-0 with two matches left, also added uncapped batsman Jonathan Trott in the squad for the match starting on Friday.

Graeme Swann will present captain Andrew Strauss with the spinning option on what is normally a seamer-friendly pitch.

Harmison could swap Andrew Flintoff the all rounder's knee grievance rule him out, while left-arm seamer Sidebottom comes into the squad just as in Stuart Broad's place has come under risk after a poor series with the ball.

"We will need to watchfully review the pitch and the overhead circumstances at Headingley before finalizing our 11 for this Test and the enclosure of Stephen Harmison and Ryan Sidebottom will give us different types of pace bowling alternatives," said by the ECB's national selector Geoff Miller.

"Both players have been in good form for their counties in recent weeks and as selectors we are charmed that contest for places in the side are so well-built."

Miller said they would not scuttle a conclusion on the 31-year-old Flintoff who finished up wicket-less at Edgbaston but hit form with the bat, with a confident 74.

"We will carry on to strongly monitoring Andrew Flintoff's fitness in the build-up to Headingley," said by Miller.

"His right knee will be reassessed by our medical team for the next 48 hours and no concluding pronouncement on his availability will be taken until closer to the start of the Test match."

England's team executive Andy Flower said the inclusion of South Africa born Trott did not mean Ravi Bopara's place at number three was under menace.

Flower said "We might want the additional batsman,” "Ravi will bat at number three absolutely at Headingley but Trott will be there if we want to pick a sixth batsman if Flintoff is wounded."

"We have planned for the possibility if Flintoff does pull out but he is pretty positive he will be okay," added Flower on Flintoff's likelihood of getting better from the physical exertions of Edgbaston. "He is a burly bloke, he has a strong body and a strong mind and a strong will and he definitely wants to play these last two Test matches."

Team for the 4th Test:

Andrew Strauss (capt), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison, Graham Onions, Matt Prior, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott.