Buzzin Cricket

Lancashire County Cricket Club have not included Andrew Flintoff in their second XI side to play rivals Yorkshire today, following medical advice that the three day match may prove too vigorous for the player has he waits to make his comeback from long term injury.

It was in August last year that the former England all rounder had a major operation on his knee, with further surgery needed in January this year.

Lancashire had hoped that Flintoff would have been ready to return for yesterday’s one day game against Yorkshire but the decision was made to withdraw him from that game believing that the three day game scheduled to start today would be a better option to ease the player back into cricket.

Flintoff who quit Test cricket in September 2009 claiming his body had told him to stop, now faces an anxious wait to return to the game, having already spent the last year out of action.

andrew flintoff - still waiting for return to cricket

As part of his rehabilitation following major surgery to his knee, Andrew Flintoff had been pencilled in to take part in a one day match for Lancashire today (Monday August 2nd), but despite his progress the 32 year old all rounder has been withdrawn from the game following medical advice from the Lancashire County medical team.

Despite not being considered ready to take part in today’s contest against Yorkshire, it is reported that Flintoff may yet start for the county side in a three day game against the White Rose second team which starts on Tuesday.

It is thought that the slower pace of the three day game will be a better option for Flintoff to start his comeback, rather than risking him in the thick of the faster one day game.

Lancashire coach Peter Moores said;

“Nothing’s happened it’s just a case of them being happy with the level of conditioning around the knee and his general body so that when he does play he’s at minimum risk of getting injured again. It’s been a long rehab so far, and what they’re making sure is that it’s not rushed. It’s got to be right. They think, at the moment, that he’s not quite ready and ruled him out of the one-dayer, because there is slightly more violent running round in a one-dayer. They’ll assess where he is for the rest of the week.”

muttiah muralitharan - 800 test wickets

Sri Lanka off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan became the first bowler to claim eight hundred wickets in Test matches, taking 5 for 63 in the first innings and adding 3 for 128 in the second innings of the first of three Test matches against India.

Having confirmed that this series will be his last Test matches for Sri Lanka, Muralitharan started the game already holding the record for wickets taken in Test matches with 792.

The 800 wicket milestone was reached in only 134 Test matches and will surely overshadow the heavy defeat inflicted on India who were forced to follow on and ended losing the match by 10 wickets.

Thirty eight year old Muralitharan will continue to torment the Indian team during the next two Test matches after which he will retire from the long game claiming that after 19 years of international bowling he is ‘getting tired and getting old’ adding, “There are a lot of good spinners waiting for their chance, and hopefully they can become like me one day.”

The bowler whose unique bent arm bowling action, caused by a defect at birth, has courted controversy over the years and led Australia’s Prime Minister Jon Howard at one time calling the Sri Lankan a ‘chucker’, a comment that he later apologised for.

Indeed it was Australian spinner Shane Warne who fought hardest with Muralitharan to claim the title of Test cricket’s leading wicket taker, but even when Warne retired, his 708 wicket haul required 145 Test matches to be acheived.

Muralitharan passed that number in 2007 taking his 709th wicket against England when his bowling claimed Paul Collingwood on the bowlers home ground in Kandy, Sri Lanka.

But the world has not seen the last of the King of Spin, he will continue to play limited overs cricket at international level and is almost certain to be involved in next spring’s World Cup which will take place in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India.

England Cricket Team & Jaguar

While the introduction of Twenty20 was designed to add pace and excitement to the game of Cricket we are still more likely to think about it as a leisurely game that is played over the course of days rather than hours.

For three of the England’s cricketers  a rather more exciting adventure was in store last week as team partners Jaguar invited Andrew Strauss, Alistair Cook and Eoin Morgan to put the Jaguar XJ through its paces at their test track in Gaydon.

Under the watchful eye of former Formula One driver Martin Brundle, the trio were given the opportunity to put their feet to the floor of a new Jaguar XJ as part of an event organised by new Team England partner Jaguar.

Brundle and three professional driver instructors were on hand to offer advice and encourage the players to get the most out of the high powered Jaguar, the newest addition to its revitalised line up.

Jaguar became the Official Vehicle Supplier of the England Cricket Team earlier this year announcing a four year partnership that sees England’s centrally contracted cricketers drive Jaguar XJ, XF and XF models.

Jaguar has also formed a strategic partnership with the ECB’s National Performance Centre. The partnership forms part of the ‘Jaguar Academy of Sport‘ which aims to recognise, celebrate and inspire the very best of British sporting talent and success.

England captain, Andrew Strauss, commented:

“Taking the cars out today has been great fun and it was really useful to pick up a few tips from Martin and the boys. Professional cricketers do a lot of driving during the summer going from venue to venue, so after a hard day play it’s very reassuring to jump into a car as comfortable as the Jaguar XJ. It’s got everything I need: superb performance, a luxury interior, sleek design and with all that boot space, I can fit my cricket bag in without any problems too!”

Geoff Cousins, Jaguar UK managing director, said:

“It’s great to see Andrew, Eoin and Alastair enjoying themselves in the Jaguar XJs today. Consistently breathtaking performance is a distinctive quality of both a Jaguar XJ and the current England cricket team, which makes our new partnership such a great fit for the Jaguar brand.”

England Cricket Team & Jaguar

The Jaguar Academy of  Sport was launched in March 2010 and aims to recognise, celebrate and inspire the very best of British sporting talent and success.

It will fulfill this aim through a Bursary Fund which will support new British sporting talent, a prestigious annual Awards Ceremony, and a unique club of the best of British sport which will be used to inspire the next generation.

Australia avoided the shame of an England whitewash in the One Day International series, clawing back a win at the Oval to 3-1 overall and deservedly so.

If the Australian’s found something close to their best form at the Oval, England’s luck seemed to have deserted them at times and captain Andrew Strauss blamed a ‘return to bad habits’ for the 78 run defeat.

The Australian’s put on 290 for 5 with the bat with both Michael Clarke (99 not out) and Ricky Ponting (92) starring, but England’s belief that they could chase the Aussie total down was misguided as the batting order collapsed around their ears.

Fast bowler Ryan Harris picked up 5 wickets for Australia at the expense of just 32 runs as only Michael Yardy could get past the 50 mark for England, scoring 57 runs.

While it was a poor effort from the England batsmen, Australia harried them into mistakes with some sharp bowling and fielding throughout the session and thoroughly deserved the win skittling England for 212 in 42.4 overs.

Andrew Strauss said;

“It was not so good today. I thought we could chase 290 but we lost too many wickets too early. It was a disappointing day, but you have to put it in the context of the series. We have had a lot of good days so far and we want to finish well.

We certainly want to finish the series 4-1 instead of 3-2 and finish well. As for personnel we’ll have to see how the players are tomorrow.”