Andrew Flintoff has handed England a boost by saying it may not be too long before he is back in action. But he hasn’t played since the final Test against Sri Lanka when he suffered a reoccurrence of his ankle problem, has yet to start bowling again, and admits the first test against Pakistan will be cutting it fine.However, he has spent hours working with Dave Roberts, the physio who has overseen his previous rehabilitations, and is pleased with his progress. He told Sky Sports: “I’ve been doing five or six hours a day with the physio…so fingers crossed I’ll be back playing cricket sooner rather than later.”When that exact date is, at this stage I’m not sure. We’ll investigate it a bit more at the end of this week, and hopefully I can get back on the pitch and do what I like doing best, playing cricket.”But when asked about the chances of taking his place at Lord’s on July 13 he added: “At this stage, that’s a big ask.”While he has been sat on the sidelines England have crashed to a humiliating 5-0 whitewash against Sri Lanka. The team has been a shadow of the side that played against Australia last summer with a number of key players missing.”It’s frustrating. I don’t like being injured and I don’t like not playing cricket. That’s what I do and that’s what I enjoy, and it’s the same for the other lads too,” Flintoff said. “Michael Vaughan, Ashley Giles, Simon Jones – they are all the same. They want to get back playing cricket. It’s unfortunate that we’ve all got injured together and the injuries have taken a while to heal.”With Flintoff’s continued absence from the team, Andrew Strauss is expected to named captain for at least part of the Pakistan series. Flintoff led England to a 1-1 draw in India before the same result against Sri Lanka, but he hopes that Vaughan will eventually be back in charge”We want Michael back, I’ve said that on numerous occasions and the rest of the side feel the same way. He is our captain, he is our leader. In his absence I’ve enjoyed captaining the side, but as soon as he comes back he’s England captain.”

Brendan Taylor, who took Zimbabwe to a thrilling two-wicket win against Bangladesh with a last-ball six, was full of praise for his partner Tawanda Mupariwa. The pair added a record 81 for the seventh wicket, with Mupariwa scoring 33 and giving valuable support to Taylor, the only recognised batsman at the crease.”I should give him (Mupariwa) credit for a job well done because he really was gathered up from the time he came into play and showed good skills that really helped us to win”, Taylor told , a Zimbabwe daily, at the end of the match. “It really feels great to be in the winning team and this was just a sweet victory.”Mupariwa was run-out in the penultimate ball of the final over, and Taylor said that his biggest challenge was to maintain his focus despite the dismissal. “There was a big blow when Mupariwa injured his ankle as he tried to run back to the crease and with the partnership that was going on so fine, and only a ball to go”, he said. “I just kept on telling myself to be calm and I managed to control myself, especially at the last three balls where I had to take the game ball by ball.”With Zimbabwe leading the series 2-1 with two games remaining, Taylor said that this would be the ideal opportunity for his country to clinch the series.”At a stage like this we cannot afford to slacken and in the next game (on Friday) we really have to give it our all because we believe we are going to win. We are at home and we have to show that we are capable of pleasing our fans as did Bangladesh last year.”In the previous ODI series between the two sides, Bangladesh won 3-2 in front of their home crowd, coming from behind after they lost the first two games.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

A massive six off the penultimate ball of the match by Narsingh Deonarine earned Guyana the inaugural Stanford 20/20 title, as they beat Trinidad and Tobago by five wickets in St John’s on Sunday. Chasing a target of 176, Guyana went into the last over requiring 14, but Ramnaresh Sarwan and Deonarine clubbed two sixes off Samuel Badree to seal a thrilling five-wicket win.Sarwan remained unbeaten on 49, but the platform for the successful run-chase was laid by Travis Dowlin, the opener, who slammed 80 off 60 balls, with 11 fours and a six. His partnership of 110 in 14 overs with Sarwan put Guyana on course after they had lost two wickets with only 23 on the board. Dowlin eventually retired hurt with back spasms, but Sarwan then took over, and though Guyana lost three quick wickets towards the end, they had just enough firepower to take them past the finishing line.T&T’s innings was earlier propped up by Daren Ganga’s 34-ball 47 and a late blitz by Denesh Ramdin, the wicketkeeper, who blasted an unbeaten 38 off just 14 balls. William Berkins and Mario Belcon got them off to a good start, adding 44 for the first wicket in less than six overs, before Ganga took charge. Ricardo Powell fell cheaply, and after 16 overs T&T only had 110 on the board. Ramdin then walked in and provided the impetus, adding 61 with Ganga, who was dismissed off the penultimate ball of the innings.The target seemed a daunting one, but despite a few wobbles, Guyana ultimately sealed the win to take home the US$1million prize money.

Australian Academy 240 for 3 (Bailey 136) beat Zimbabwe Board XI 236 for 9 (Sibanda 92, Chibhabha 59, Sullivan 5-46) by seven wicketsThe Australian Academy completed their tour of Zimbabwe with another resounding win in the third one-dayer at Harare Sports Club, defeating a Zimbabwe Board XI by seven wickets with almost 25 overs to spare.Zimbabwe batted soundly and their innings was built on a 98-ball 92 from Vusi Sibanda while Chamu Chibhabha chipped in with a breezy 59. Right arm fast bowler Grant Sullivan led the attack with 5 for 46 in 10 overs. However, with the Australians’ batting in such devastating form, this was never likely to be enough.Even allowing for that, George Bailey’s onslaught was remarkable – he bludgeoned 136 off 65 balls to make a mockery of the target of 237. In all, he hammered ten sixes and 14 fours out of 160 runs made while he was at the wicket. The first two batsmen fell cheaply – making 1 and 8 – but the score was nevertheless 88 when the second wicket fell. Ed Rainsford bore the brunt of Bailey’s hitting, taking 1 for 67 off nine overs.Adam Voges and Callum Ferguson put on a more sedate and unbeaten fourth-wicket stand of 80 in ten overs to steer the Academy to victory with almost half their allocation of overs in hand.The Academy won all six matches in Kenya and Zimbabwe, and were never pushed in any of them. It underlined the gulf between the two countries and what amounted to a young Australia side.

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Gerard Denton forced a late collapse from the South Australia tail to help Victoria over the line in a nailbiting finish at Adelaide Oval. Denton set up the victory with early wickets then claimed three more with the second new ball to finish with a career-best 6 for 31 as the Redbacks came within nine balls of a draw.Mark Cosgrove tried desperately hard to save his side, curbing his usually aggressive strokeplay in just under five hours at the crease for 52 not out. At one stage it looked like he and Jason Gillespie might block out a draw but when Jon Moss trapped Gillespie lbw for 18 it paved the way for Denton to clean up the rest.Denton had Cullen Bailey caught at slip for 1, Paul Rofe caught behind for 0 and Shaun Tait caught at leg slip for 0 within the space of three overs. It had been Denton who got his side away to a terrific start by having the openers Shane Deitz (1) and Matthew Elliott (7) trapped lbw.South Australia’s target of 350 – it was set after Victoria added 45 to their overnight score – was irrelevant when Gillespie joined Cosgrove at 6 for 84 shortly before tea. They added 46 in an 83-minute partnership and seemed as though they could hold on as they battled against Shane Warne on a wearing wicket.Cosgrove laboured for 297 minutes with a strike rate of only 19.47, compared to his pre-match mark of 64.92, but his defence was not enough to stop Victoria claiming the six points, catapulting them from last to second on the Pura Cup table.

Wellington v Central Districts Day 4
In a repeat of the result of last year’s final, Central Districts beat Wellington outright.Chasing a modest 227 on a wicket that offered the seamers encouragement throughout, Central stuttered briefly but always looked favourites to get there.Opener Geoff Barnett laid the foundation with a gritty 78. Nobody else in the top order passed 20 until Ewen Thompson, batting at number eight, scored 40 from 43 balls, including two sixes. The importance of his knock can not be downplayed. Thompson came to the crease at the dismissal of Barnett with Central teetering slightly at 167 for 6. However, his boldness and Bevan Griggs’ resilience (19 not out from 48 balls), guided Central to maximum points. Griggs finished with a useful match double after scoring 58 in the first innings. He also took five catches behind the stumps in Wellington’s second innings.James Franklin and Test hopeful Mark Gillespie took three wickets each, though Gillespie was expensive in the context of this match.Auckland v Otago Day 3
Auckland’s burst of four wickets late on the second evening looks more and more like an anomaly as the runs pile up at this batter-friendly venue.Neil Broom and Gareth Hopkins took their fifth-wicket partnership through to 219 before Broom fell to Chris Martin for 112.Wicketkeeper Hopkins continued on his merry way, securing a century after 199 balls and a few nervous moments on 99. He was ably supported by Lancastrian Kyle Hogg who must have walked out to bat with some trepidation after failing to score on a similar batsman’s paradise during the first round match against Canterbury.As it is there must be a few red faces among Otago’s top order after such a pitiful collapse.When rain stopped play late in the day, Hogg was on 53 and Hopkins 139 – but then Otage declared, which could prove an imaginative decision.Canterbury v Northern Districts Day 3
Northern have only Daniel Vettori’s allround abilities to thank for this match continuing into the fourth day.Vettori propped up a disappointing Northern effort with 86 – he was last man out – as the visitors collapsed against Shane Bond.Bond, playing his first match for the province this season, took 5 for 37 off 19.3 well-directed overs to decimate a Northern side that began the innings just two runs adrift of Canterbury.They soon found themselves marooned at 81 for 6, Hamish Marshall giving more headaches to the New Zealand selectors with his 19-ball innings of 1.Vettori was supported by Peter McGlashan who eked out a painstaking 13 from 65 deliveries before falling to Craig McMillan.

Essex have signed Darren Thomas on a one-year deal, ending his 15-year association with GlamorganThomas made his debut in 1992 when, aged just 17, he took 5 for 80 against Derbyshire at Chesterfield. A promising young bowler, he was an instrumental force in helping Glamorgan winning the Championship title in 1997 and, in all, has taken 504 first-class wickets.”I’m sad to be leaving Glamorgan because they have been part of my life for 15 years,” Thomas told Essex’s website, “but things change and when one door closes another opens. I’ve now come to Essex to further my cricket career. They have had a lot of success recently so I’m hoping to help them win more silverware in the future.”This is an opportunity I didn’t realise would come around. When I played against Essex for Glamorgan it was always massively competitive so I’m over the moon to now be joining them. I get on well with Ronnie Irani and have had quite a lot of success against them in the past, which I hope to now bring to Essex.”Thomas has had success against Irani, too; in the NatWest Trophy semi-final in 1997 Thomas punched the air in delight after dismissing Irani. Unfortunately, the batsman walked straight into the bowler’s euphoric thump.”When a cricketer like Darren Thomas becomes available during the transfer window it is an opportunity not to be missed,” Irani said. “Darren has a fantastic track record in both forms of the game, has over 500 first-class wickets and played a major part in Glamorgan’s Championship season in 1997. As has been seen, our bowling performances have let us down at times so Darren’s arrival will strengthen us.”

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