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Andy Flower, the England team director, has cast doubts over whether Andrew Flintoff will ever again play international cricket, but expressed hope that Kevin Pietersen will be available for England’s forthcoming tour of South Africa. Speaking after his latest round of knee surgery last week, Flintoff admitted he was uncertain as to whether he would fulfil his ambition of representing England in the 50- and 20-over arenas. Flower harbours similar concerns.”I don’t know,” Flower told Sky Sports, when asked whether Flintoff would make an England return. “I really hope he does. If he can come back and play one-day international and Twenty20 cricket for us and bat at six or seven and bowl like he can bowl, that will make us a force to be reckoned with in one-day cricket. Whether he will or not I don’t know, I just hope he does.”Flower was more optimistic about Pietersen’s comeback from injury. Pietersen underwent surgery to alleviate pain caused by a degenerative Achilles injury after the Lord’s Test, and was readmitted to hospital after the area around the stitching became infected. He will miss England’s one-day series against Australia and the ensuing Champions Trophy, however Flower is hopeful he will return for the eagerly anticipated tour of South Africa later in the year.”He is still struggling a little with that wound in his Achilles,” Flower said. “I spoke to him yesterday but I think we are confident in saying he will be back for South Africa”Sometimes you never know what is good or bad luck. Kevin and I spoke about … using this as an opportunity to get some time away from the game. It is enforced time away and he didn’t want it and we didn’t want it, but since it’s there and there is nothing anyone can do about it, I think he has got to make the most of it. I think that is what he is doing. He is spending time with his family and his wife and getting a break from the international game.”

England allrounder Luke Wright has been ruled out of the final two ODIs against Australia, after injuring the big toe of his left foot while batting against a bowling machine during practice at Loughborough on Monday.Wright had missed the fifth ODI on Tuesday, which Australia won to take a 5-0 lead in the seven-match contest, and the injury was serious enough to rule him out of the rest of the series and put him in doubt for the upcoming Champions Trophy in South Africa.The decision about his availability for the Champions Trophy, an England spokesman said, will be made after the conclusion of the ODI series. Dimitri Mascarenhas, who had replaced Wright for the fifth ODI, is likely to keep his place.Wright is the second England player to injure himself while training this series. Joe Denly missed the first three matches against Australia after being brought down in a heavy tackle by Owais Shah during an intra-squad football match prior to the first ODI. The England team management has since barred players from playing football during warm-ups.England, ridden by injuries, are already without star players Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff for the Champions Trophy.

Fast bowler Boyd Rankin and wicketkeeper-batsman Niall O’Brien have been included in Ireland’s 13-man squad for the RSA Challenge one-day international against England at Stormont on August 27 after missing the recent Intercontinental Cup match against Scotland in Aberdeen. They will return along with John Mooney, who joined the squad for the ODIs against Scotland at the weekend.There were no selection surprises as coach Phil Simmons stuck to the squad that has performed so successfully during his tenure. “I’ve everyone available and I always maintain that with a full strength squad, we are a match for any country on our day. We’ve shown that with our results in the past, and we’ll continue to do so in the future,” Simmons said.”I don’t know if this is the best Ireland team ever, but we have a great bunch of talented cricketers who are playing with great confidence at the moment. We have got great depth in our batting, and plenty of options in the bowling as well. If we play well, then certainly we can beat England. They will be favourites for sure, but cricket has a nice habit of throwing up surprises.”Captain William Porterfield, who plays for Gloucestershire, was excited about leading his side out for the fixture. “It’ll be a dream come true for me to step out over the boundary ropes in front of a packed crowd,” Porterfield said. “I was 12th man when England last played here in 2006, so in three years I’ve gone from being a squad player to captaining my country, and leading from the front with the bat.””There’s sure to be a wonderful atmosphere on the day, and it’s been good to hear that the tickets are now virtually sold out. With the crowd behind us, we can give England a real competitive game.”Ireland squad: William Porterfield (capt), Andre Botha, Alex Cusack, Trent Johnston, John Mooney, Kyle McCallan, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Regan West, Andrew White, Gary Wilson.

Guyana president Bharat Jagdeo will meet separately with officials from the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) in an attempt to resolve the vexed row over player contracts.Last week the West Indian players currently boycotting the series against Bangladesh had asked the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) to help solve the impasse. According to the WICB Jagdeo, the current chairman of CARICOM’s heads of government, has agreed to talk with the board as well.Confirming Tueday’s meeting, attorney-at-law Gerard Pinard, a member of the WICB’s negotiating team, told the : “WIPA had asked president Jagdeo as chairman of CARICOM to intervene in the current dispute and as a matter of courtesy he has also extended an invitation to the WICB to meet with him. We are not meeting together with WIPA. We will meet at 12 noon, and they will meet at another time during the day.”When the president of Guyana and the chairman of CARICOM invites you to a meeting you have to go and meet with him. We are hoping for the best to come out of this situation and we will be going into that meeting with a totally open mind.”Pinard will be accompanied by WICB president Julian Hunte, vice-president Dave Cameron, legal officer Alana Medford, and legal consultant Derek Ali.

Marcus Trescothick, the former England batsman, has said England will sorely miss Michael Vaughan’s presence as they look to regain the Ashes this summer. Trescothick said that Vaughan, who is expected to announce his retirement from the game on Tuesday, was a natural leader of men not just on the field but off it as well.Vaughan captained the team to Ashes glory in 2005, ending a wait of nearly 20 years. Trescothick and Vaughan forged a very successful opening combination since coming together in 2000 and Trescothick said it was a privilege being associated with him.”His experience within this year’s Ashes side would have been really important,” Trescothick told Sky Sports. “Obviously we worked closely together for a couple of years and had a great time, culminating in us winning the Ashes.”To work with him, experience him and talk to him was a key moment for all of us. It was great to have that relationship with him.”Vaughan took over the reins in 2004 after the team had moulded into a fighting unit under Nasser Hussain. He carried on the good work and led his team to more Test victories than any other English captain. After his tearful resignation last year, his place in the team wasn’t guaranteed due to his indifferent batting form, which wasn’t enough to earn him a place in the Ashes probables squad.”When Nasser Hussain finished the team needed to move forward and Michael was the right guy at the time,” Trescothick said. “He’s a leader of men who has the ability – behind the scenes as well – to keep people going. People see what he does on the field but they don’t see the off-the-field Michael.”He was brilliant at keeping you going to the next game, the next innings, or the next day. That’s what he was great at.”Vaughan’s team-mate and bowling spearhead during the 2005 Ashes, Steve Harmison, also praised his leadership skills and spoke of how the players cherished playing under him.

England showed why they were the team to beat, following up their World Cup win in the 50-over format earlier in the year with a thumping ten-wicket win over India in Taunton. England gave a fitting reply to India’s lacklustre batting display with their openers Sarah Taylor and Charlotte Edwards scoring half-centuries to make a mockery of a target of 113. Both scored at a fair clip, smashing 13 fours and two sixes between them to breeze home with more than four overs to spare.”This is our biggest game and hopefully this will clinch our semi-final spot,” said Edwards. “Everyone wanted to see how we’d react to the tag of favourites. Whenever there’s a bit of pressure on this team the players come out fighting. I was really, really pleased with Holly – she bowled so well. To come out and play as we have done today in front of such an enthusiastic crowd has been fantastic.”India’s decision to bat backfired, as only three of their batsmen managed to reach double figures amid some miserly England bowling. Mithali Raj top scored with 29, but the only encouraging phase for India was her 22-run stand with opener Anjum Chopra for the second wicket. The stars for England with the ball were left-arm spinner Holly Colvin (3-20) and Nicky Shaw (2-28), who ensured their team remained in control, keeping India in check with wickets at frequent intervals. A 35-run sixth-wicket stand between Raj and wicketkeeper Sulakshana Naik lent some respectability to the Indian innings, but by then the advantage had been ceded.West Indies recorded the first upset of the ICC Women’s World Twenty20, beating South Africa by three runs in a tense opening match of the tournament at Taunton. Stafanie Taylor, 18-years-old today and playing in her third Twenty20 for West Indies, starred with a 52-ball 50 at the top of the order in her side’s competitive 123 for 7. Taylor and Pamela Lavine (24 from 22) put on 44 for the first wicket, but South Africa fought back through Dane van Niekerk and Shabnin Ismail who each took two wickets. South Africa, however, began their chase of 124 poorly, losing both their openers with just 12 runs on the board, before slipping to 82 for 6. Mignon du Preez gave them hope with 38 from 28 balls, while Sunette Loubser cracked 19 from 16, but both players were run out as West Indies’ fielders held their nerve. There was a third mix-up when Stacy-Ann King threw down the stumps to dismiss Ismail in a tight 20th over to leave South Africa three runs short, prompting West Indies’ celebrations.

Andrew McDonald knows he needs runs in Australia’s warm-up matches against Sussex and England Lions if he is to hold his spot for the first Ashes Test. The return of Shane Watson, Brett Lee and Stuart Clark could encourage Australia to alter their balance and drop McDonald, who has played the past four Tests.He is confident that his style of medium-pace bowling – he has nine Test wickets at 33.33 – would be a valuable asset in the English conditions. But it wasn’t until the most recent of his six Test innings that he showed any batting form and his 68 in Cape Town might not be enough to secure his place.”At the moment I’m in the side, but the two lead-up games will probably tell more of a story,” McDonald told the . “It might swing a little bit over there, if it’s dry I can bowl stump to stump, I’m pretty flexible with what I can offer with the ball. It’s just a matter in those first couple of tour games getting some runs and consolidating my spot.”McDonald does not have a first-class batting record to match his fellow allrounder Watson – he has two centuries to Watson’s 13 – but he does have the advantage of incumbency in a winning team. One of the national selectors, Merv Hughes, said McDonald’s performance against South Africa had been “magnificent”.”He’s bowled for long spells and that’s allowed the fast bowlers to reload, so Ricky [Ponting] can attack with them,” Hughes told AAP. “His batting has been okay without being solid, but he showed in that last Test match what he’s capable of.”Before he has even left Australia, McDonald has been taunted by the English press, which he said was not necessarily a negative. “Any time you’re in the papers 60 days out from an Ashes series has to be a good thing,” McDonald said. “But no, I’m not motivated by it.”

Johan Botha, the South African offspinner who was recently cleared to play the World Twenty20 despite his doosra being banned, has signed up with the Rajasthan Royals. He is likely to feature in Rajasthan’s match against Mumbai on Thursday after he joined the team in Durban, Rajasthan coach Darren Berry said.Confirming the news, Botha said Manoj Badale, the head of Emerging Media, owners of Rajasthan franchise, had called him two days ago to tell him that he would be part of the rest of the tournament. “I am confident of playing the rest of tournament,” Botha told Cricinfo. “I also have the option of playing next season but that still needs to be worked out.” Botha is a replacement for Shaun Tait, who was ruled out because of injury.Botha had reportedly been in talks with Rajasthan before the start of the tournament but that had been put on hold following his action being reported suspect during the one-dayers against Australia.Shane Warne, the Rajasthan captain, said Botha would be a great boost to the side who are missing their key bowlers Tait, Shane Watson and Sohail Tanvir this season. Rajasthan also are without their Indian bowlers Amit Singh and Kamran Khan who were reported for suspect actions. “Johan Botha is a sensational player and we were disapointed when he couldn’t be part of our squad at the start of the tournament,” Warne said. “It is a real boost that he can now make an impact when called upon.” In six Twenty20 internationals over the last year, Botha has taken five wickets at a strike-rate of 26.4 and an economy of 5.18.Botha’s action was previously reported after his Test debut against Australia at the SCG in January, 2006. He was suspended from bowling the following month when testing confirmed the illegality of his action. In September 2006, Botha’s action was once again found to be illegal even after he had worked on it. He then corrected his action, which was deemed legal upon re-testing, and he resumed playing international cricket in the 2007 Afro-Asia Cup.

Tyron Henderson of Rajasthan has good control over the slower ones and is a hard hitter•Getty Images

Rajasthan

They were last season’s Cinderella team: Written off at the start, but drawing fans as they embarked on a fairy-tale run that improbably went all the way. They will face the pressure of being the defending champions this time around – but then they have a leader who thrives on pressure. It won’t be all smooth sailing, though. Shane Watson is available only as a batsman, and that too for just two weeks, and Sohail Tanvir will be sorely missed. Tyron Henderson, the hardhitting allrounder, will do his best to fill that hole; Dimitri Mascarenhas and Graeme Smith should be available for the entire season.The buzzIt’s all about Warne (with apologies to Shilpa Shetty). He has spoken about the past, the present, and the future of this format. He has thrown darts at his old friend John Buchannan, talked about his friendship with Graeme Smith and has embraced South Africa while expressing sorrow over the loss of India as the venue. Meanwhile, he has quietly picked new faces, discarded the likes of Mohammad Kaif, taken his team to see Australia-South Africa ODI games and generally continued being the team’s undisputed marketing and cricketing guru.New faces Tyron Henderson, bought for $650,000, is an impact player in this format and Shaun Tait, while not quite possessing the consistency of Tanvir, can do damage in a four-over spell. Indeed, one of the success stories of this season could be the Warne’s handling of the fragile Tait. Morne Morkel and Justin Langer are also available. Rob Quiney, the hard-hitting Victoria top-order batsman, has been picked as an uncapped signing; other signings include Victoria’s fast bowler Shane Harwood and Queensland allrounder Lee Carseldine.Watch out forHenderson. He can be the Watson of this edition. He hits the length, has a good control over the slower ones and is a hard hitter. And he will be playing at home.Missing in actionSohail Tanvir. The highest wicket-taker last year and a superb death-over specialist, he will also be missed for his useful lower-order batting.X Factor Kamran Khan, a left-arm slinger kept under wraps by Warne. It will be interesting to see how Warne uses him. Will he play him only in select games?StrengthA very well-balanced team with the emphasis on batting. They have quality in Graeme Smith, players like Ravindra Jadeja, Yusuf Pathan and Henderson who can hit out against the spinners and medium pacers, and a steady bowling attack in Warne, Munaf Patel, Sidharth Trivedi and Jadeja. And they have weeded out players like Kaif who weren’t 100% last season.WeaknessThe absence of Tanvir and Watson (he’ll play only as a batsman) from the bowling is a concern. But not many expected the injury-prone Watson to be so effective with the ball last season. Time for Henderson and Tait to step up.

PREDICTION FOR 2009

Should make it to the semi-finals. At that stage, their bowling might crack under pressure.IPL 2008 – The key figures: Final position: WinnersTop scorer: Shane Watson with 472 runs at 47.20Top wicket-taker: Sohail Tanvir 22 at 12.09 and economy rate of 7.07Best result: 105-run win over DelhiWorst result: Delhi won by nine wicketsHighest team score: 217 for 7 v Deccan ChargersLowest team score: 103 v Mumbai

Chennai

Look out for Suresh Raina’s beautiful strikes over extra-cover•Getty Images

They were a pretty solid outfit last year: The batting was impressive with Matthew Hayden and Michael Hussey in full form though the bowling botched up a few times. They have strengthened it this year with the inclusion of Andrew Flintoff, though only for the first half. It will be interesting to see which four foreigners play. If Flintoff goes in with Makhaya Ntini, Albie Morkel, and Matthew Hayden, we might see Muralitharan, who wasn’t so effective last year, sit out with the offspinner R Ashwin, who was the highest wicket-taker in the Challenger series, playing alongside L Balaji and Manpreet Gony.The buzz It’s been a pretty professional, low-profile show so far – just as it was last year. They announced very early the redesignation of Stephen Fleming as a mentor, rolled out a new team song early, and hit South Africa early as well for their camp. In the auction they got what they wanted – Flintoff.New facesFlintoff, Thilan Thushara, and the Tasmanian George Bailey, who might not be used much.Watch out for Suresh Raina. He was just ahead of Rohit Sharma in the pecking order before India’s series against Sri Lanka began but rocketed ahead by the end of the New Zealand series. Look out for his beautiful strikes over extra-cover. Not many in the world play it better than him.Missing in actionMichael Hussey, though he has said he will be available for semi-finals if needed. Barring Hussey and Flintoff, all their foreign players are available for the full season.X Factor Stephen Fleming the coach. This is his first stint in this role but, if you believe Suresh Raina, he was a great help in developing mental skills. Raina spoke about the dinner meetings last year when Fleming would take him and the young players and offer advice. Post-IPL, we might see the rise of Fleming the coach in the international arena.StrengthBatting. The middle-order in particular is really strong with Raina, Dhoni, S Badrinath, Flintoff and Albie Morkel. And discount Matthew Hayden, who hit a frenetic 35-ball 65 in the warm-up game, at your peril. He is fit and will have a point to prove after his tame exit from the international arena.WeaknessWho will open with Hayden? Parthiv Patel averaged 27.45 with a strike rate of 101.68 but was not used in all games. Will they use M Vijay and is he suited for this format? And one has to wait and watch if Manpreet Gony can repeat his dream season.

PREDICTION FOR 2009

Should make it to the semi-finalsIPL 2008 – The key figures:Final position: Runners-upTop scorer: Raina with 421 at 38.27Top wicket-taker: Albie Morkel: 17 wickets at 23.47 and an economy rate of 8.31 and Manpreet Gony: 17 wickets at a higher average but an economy rate of 7.38Best result: Nine-wicket win over PunjabWorst result: 9-wicket loss to MumbaiHighest team score: 240 for 5 v PunjabLowest team score: 109 v Rajasthan

Ajantha Mendis, the Sri Lankan spinner who was injured among with some of his team-mates in the terrorist attack on their team bus in Lahore earlier this month, has been discharged from hospital after shrapnel was extracted from his head and back.Tharanga Paranavitana and assistant coach Paul Farbrace were discharged over the weekend while Thilan Samaraweera, who had a bullet removed from his thigh, remained under observation.Mendis thanked all those involved in getting the team out of Pakistan and treating the players. “That is the medical staff both in Pakistan and Sri Lanka as well as the officials from Sri Lanka Cricket and the sports ministry and, the president and the cabinet of ministers for the way they helped us to overcome a difficult situation,” Mendis was quoted as saying by .The players have been undergoing post-trauma counselling and doctor Geethanjana Mendis said the medical team had reported that the players were “shaken up”. “But those not injured can resume training next week,” he said.