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Andrew Flintoff has ruled out playing grade cricket in Australia before the start of the Ashes series in November. Speculation Flintoff would arrive before the tour to test his recovery from ankle surgery was started last month by David Graveney, the England chairman of selectors, when he suggested ways of returning his group of injured players to action.But a spokesperson for Flintoff’s management company said in The Sydney Morning Herald the situation had “got completely blown out”. “There hasn’t been any plan to play in Australia,” an International Sports Management spokesperson said. “There is nothing on the cards.” Flintoff faces a 12-week recovery period from the surgery and last week said he hoped to be able to play a month before the first Test in Brisbane on November 23.If Flintoff is fit he will arrive to defend the Ashes with the England team, which has its first warm-up match scheduled for Canberra on November 10. A host of Australian states offered invitations to Flintoff and his injured squad mates to prepare for the series in their local competitions.

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Bengal’s opening pair made the most of winning the toss to pile the agony on Baroda at the Moti Bagh ground in Vadodara. Anustup Majumdar, in only his third first-class match, recorded his maiden hundred while the relatively experienced Arindam Das matched him in a fine 221-run stand. The duo made the most of Baroda’s greenhorn new-ball attack and struck 33 fours between them in a sensible partnership. Majumdar was run-out shortly after reaching his century but Das was undefeated at the end of the day.
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Daniel Manohar cracked his eighth first-class hundred to give Hyderabad a solid start in Mohali but Punjab’s spinners fought back by grabbing five wickets between them. Having been inserted on a surface that usually assists the seamers first up, Hyderabad were propped up by a 128-run opening stand between Manohar and Ravi Teja. Hyderabad, though, somewhat lost their way from there. VVS Laxman fell for 38, an innings that included eight fours, and the middle order struggled against the left-arm spin of Ankur Kakkar and the offspin of Karan Goel. Both were economical, conceding less than three runs an over, and brought Punjab back into the contest towards the end of the day.
ScorecardRajasthan unravelled for the second time in as many games, collapsing for 105 against Maharashtra in Jaipur. Having been shot out for 85 against Delhi, Rajasthan’s batsmen continued the trend with only three managing double figures. Munaf Patel’s four-wicket burst rattled the top order before Harshad Khadiwale, the medium-pacer, and Sairaj Bahutule, the veteran legspinner, ran through the tail. Bahutule, who claimed three wickets in just 2.4 overs, reached an important milestone: he now has 550 wickets in first-class cricket. Khadiwale, a centurion in the first round, carried on his good form to allow Maharashtra to lead by 50 runs at the end of the day.
ScorecardUttar Pradesh rode on handy contributions from most batsmen but Andhra stayed in the hunt on a see-saw first day in Anantpur. Electing to field first, Andhra dismissed the UP openers early but a string of partnerships kept thwarting them through the day. Ravikant Shukla held the lower order together with a doughty 56 but neither Mohammad Kaif (34) nor Suresh Raina (13) could make much of an impact. P Vijay Kumar, the medium-pacer from Andhra, kept them in the match with an impressive four-wicket haul.
ScorecardMithun Manhas led a shaky Delhi batting effort, one which never found much momentum against an attack led by medium-pacer Sandeep Jobanputra. Saurashtra had a satisfying day on the field, considering that they chose to bowl first in an away game. Jobanputra, in his third first-class season, pocketed his fourth five-wicket haul and was well backed up by medium-pacer Kanaiya Vaghela (2 for 27). Entering at 47 for 2, Manhas produced a patient knock, consuming 130 balls for a gritty 62. Shikhar Dhawan and Rajat Bhatia couldn’t convert their 30s into big ones and Delhi limped to 244 at the end of the day.
ScorecardRahul Dravid scored a century in the second successive game, pushing Karnataka to a dominant 270 for 4 against Himachal Pradesh in Bangalore. Dravid’s 121, an innings that included 14 fours and four sixes, formed the backbone of a solid Karnataka batting performance. He was backed up by KB Pawan and C Raghu, both of whom posted half-centuries on a batsman-dominated day.
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Fifties from Dinesh Karthik and Rajhamany Srinivasan, the latter playing his third first-class match, rescued Tamil Nadu in Chennai but it was Mumbai’s bowlers who claimed most of the honours. Aavishkar Salvi, playing his first Ranji game of the season, set the tone with a couple of early wickets before Ramesh Powar, omitted from India’s Test squad against Pakistan, got stuck into the tail with a four-wicket haul. Karthik’s energetic half-century, with 12 fours and a six, was in contrast to Srinivasan’s stodgy effort, one that used up 229 minutes. Mumbai’s openers got through 11 overs without losing a wicket.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Complementing Suresh Raina’s composed 92 with an impressive performance in the field, India Blue sneaked home to a 12-run win in the opening match of the Challenger Trophy at Motera. Raina helped his side overcome a poor start, when they had stumbled to 41 for 4 in swinging conditions, and the fighting target proved enough eventually, with their bowlers overcoming the problems posed by the evening dew.The Reds were guilty of losing wickets at crucial junctures, just when solid partnerships were beginning to take shape. Legspinner Amit Mishra slipped in the googlies and foxed Virat Kohli and S Badrinath, the well-set batsmen, to wrest the initiative. A late-charge from Praveen Kumar and Mahesh Rawat, adding 62 in just under 10 overs, provided Reds with hope but their dismissals in quick succession effectively put an end to the contest.It was a revival of sorts from Blues after struggling early on. Not much went their way early on after Virender Sehwag won the toss and surprisingly, with all the talk of evening dew, chose to bat The top-order slide, which began with the first ball of the match, was orchestrated by seamer Kumar, whose alarming inswing caught the Blues off guard on a pitch which required the batsmen to gauge the bounce and movement before launching a boundary assault.Ajinkya Rahane, riding on a crest after his dream debut season for Mumbai, was literally brought down to his knees as the ball darted in off the air, clipped the pads and flattened the off stump. Both Kumar and Ishant Sharma applied the pressure early on by bowling to their strengths. Sehwag’s short stint was scratchy at best and Dinesh Karthik, under pressure to keep his place in the Indian one-day squad, was back in the hutch for a first-ball duck, playing across the line to a ball that shaped in.At 41 for 4, Blues turned to Raina to lend some stability to the innings. Effortless cover drives combined with deft cuts square of the wicket, shots manufactured even without the luxury of width. Using supple wrists, Raina turned several deliveries from outside the off stump and picked the gaps on the leg side. Along with local boy Niraj Patel, Raina staged a quick recovery and Reds, who held the upper hand for a sizeable passage of play before the halfway stage, gradually felt the heat. Raina’s knock was largely risk-free, and even his chip shots over the infield landed safely.

The fall of Niraj’s wicket, caught at midwicket while trying to loft over the infield, didn’t deter Raina, who carried on the charge by carting the spin duo of Pragyan Ojha and S Badrinath for huge sixes. Joginder Sharma played the supporting act in a stand of 49, a period when the ball stopped doing much in the air. With Raina still around, the Blues looked good to post a score of over 250. However, a pull off Trivedi, probably timed too well for his own good, signalled an end to his innings as Kohli pulled off a sharp catch just inches off the ground at the deep midwicket boundary.Amit Mishra and Ramesh Powar- who scored a breezy 21 off 13 balls – pushed the scoring towards the end, and the sloppy fielding in the outfield by the Reds turned to be an added bonus. The Blues didn’t let up with the ball. It didn’t take too long for them to strike with Gautam Gambhir paying the price for attempting a cheeky single in the first over. Gambhir was quick on his feet as he pushed the ball to mid-on, but Sehwag was a notch quicker as he gathered the ball and threw down the middle stump at the non-striker’s end.The chase stalled in the early overs with Ranadeb Bose and Joginder maintaining a immaculate line outside off. Kaif broke the shackles in the fifth over when he dispatched two half-volleys off Bose through the off side. He then settled into Vijaykumar Yo Mahesh’s lively pace with sweetly-timed strokes down leg and past mid-off. Kohli, the promising Delhi batsman, settled in quickly and the pair kept the chase on track.However, their dismissals – Kaif caught brilliantly by Swapnil Asnodkar at midwicket – revived the Blues. Badrinath carried on the fight, showing plenty of urgency in rotating the strike with 21 singles in his 41 but his departure, unable to read a Mishra googly, disturbed the momentum of the innings.As the asking-rate increased, Rawat and Praveen Kumar revived Red’s hopes with a brisk half-century stand. But it was a case of too little too late. Kumar perished for 37, holing out to long-on, and Rawat, three short of his fifty, flicked the ball onto his stumps while attempting an adventurous scoop over fine leg. Joginder rounded off an impressive evening with three wickets, and the Blues vindicated Sehwag’s decision to bat first.

Worcestershire’s Twenty20 Cup fixture against Warwickshire at New Road has had to be cancelled after unseasonal rains caused the Severn and Teme rivers to break their banks and flood the county ground at New Road.”Around half of the ground is flooded at a depth of at least a couple of feet,” explained David Leatherdale, the commercial manager. “It is up to the engines of cars parked on the ground.” Games against Northamptonshire on Friday and Gloucestershire on Sunday are also in doubt.Although county officials immediately sought an alternative venue to stage the game, the Twenty20 regulations as they stand require all matches to be played within the county boundaries. Worcestershire had hoped to play at either Kidderminster, Ombersley or Barnt Green, but were forced to admit defeat.”Regrettably no other venue within the county with the facilities to stage the Twenty20 match could be identified in spite of the very best efforts of the home club,” said an ECB statement. “ECB has indicated that it wishes to consider changes to regulations which could provide increased options for the 2008 season but recognises that the weather conditions experienced in June have been exceptional.While the ground, which is on a flood plain, is often submerged in the winter, it is rare that it suffers during the season. In June 1931 Worcestershire had to move their match against Kent to Stourbridge because New Road was underwater. On that occasion the local fire brigade were called in to help mop up. In August of the same year heavy rain meant that a small lake formed in front of the ladies stand and the boundary had to be brought in by 25 yards midway a game against Warwickshire. It also flooded in August 1957.

All-round efforts from R Vinay Kumar and J Suchith ensured that Karnataka overcame a middling batting effort to register a 38-run win over Haryana in Bangalore. The defending champions lost Mayank Agarwal in the first over after being put in to bat but looked to recover through partnerships between KL Rahul, debutant Sadiq Kirmani and Manish Pandey. They collapsed from 99 for 2 to 104 for 6 in the space of three overs, with Yuzvendra Chahal accounting for Rahul and Karun Nair off consecutive deliveries in the 28th over. Two partnerships of 58 and 54, between Stuart Binny and Suchith and later Vinay Kumar and and Suchith lifted the score past 200. Suchith scored 46 off 63 deliveries while Vinay Kumar struck a 30-ball 41. Harshal Patel was Haryana’s most expensive bowler but also picked up four wickets for 62 runs.By the fourth over, Haryana’s chase had been reduced to 10 for 3. Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dagar tried to stabilize the innings with an 86-run partnership for the fourth wicket, but Karnataka kept chipping at the wickets. Dagar finished unbeaten on 96 and watched from the other end as Haryana were bowled out for 204 in the 47th over.VA Jagadeesh’s fourth List A century helped set up Kerala‘s 60-run win over Railways in Alur. The opening batsman struck 121 off 137 balls to lead Kerala to 256, although the side suffered due to a cluster of late wickets. Anureet Singh had the best returns for Railways, claiming 4 for 40 off his 10 overs. The Kerala bowlers then combined to bowl out Railways for 196. Saurabh Wakaskar and Arindam Ghosh scored 77 and 53 respectively but the rest of the batsmen could not match their efforts as the side was bowled out in the 44th over.

Brad Haddin has spent plenty of time as a spectator this year so he was simply pleased to get a decent hit in Australia’s opening ODI against India on Saturday. Haddin made 69 in Australia’s imposing 307 at Bangalore but he could miss Tuesday’s match at Kochi as Ricky Ponting recovers well from a hamstring injury.Haddin was part of Australia’s World Cup-winning squad in the Caribbean but did not play a game and was used as a specialist batsman in two matches at the ICC World Twenty20, facing a total of 20 balls. His effort on Saturday was his second half-century in 22 ODIs and justified Australia’s decision to include him and Adam Gilchrist in the same side.”I’m always a wicketkeeper first,” Haddin told the . “I’ve spent a bit of time working on my batting and I’ve been lucky enough to make my way into the team with the bat, so I wanted to make a statement that I can bat as well.”I didn’t take too much notice of the scoreboard. I usually look at it all the time, but I didn’t think too much about it. I didn’t want to complicate things. I hadn’t had a hit for a long time, so I was just trying to worry about the ball.”Haddin was one of the leading scorers in Australia’s domestic one-day competition last year when he made 406 runs at 67.66. However, if Ponting continues his quick recovery it could force Haddin back on the sidelines in the second ODI.Gilchrist said he was pleased Haddin had showed his potential. “People may think he only gets picked in these squads as a backup keeper but to me he is very much here on his own batting ability,” Gilchrist told the . “He was in the World Cup squad as a spare batsman and it is a bonus he is also the next-in-line wicketkeeper.”

Pakistan now has two players in the top five of the Test batting rankings following the drawn first Test against England at Lord’s. Inzamam-ul-Haq has climbed one place to third in the list after twin half-centuries and he has been joined in the top five by Mohammad Yousuf, who made 202, his second successive Test double hundred against England.Yousuf is up two spots to fifth place and now has his best-ever ranking and his highest tally of points. Completing a trio of Pakistan batsmen in the top 10 is Younis Khan, who missed the Lord’s Test through injury. He lies seventh in the table.The only players Inzamam now trails in the rankings are his opposite numbers Ricky Ponting of Australia and India’s Rahul Dravid. England, by contrast, has just one batsman in that top 10, Kevin Pietersen in 10th position, but below him, several of his team mates are making positive moves.Andrew Strauss’s ninth Test hundred has seen him rise two places to 12th (overtaking team-mate Marcus Trescothick in the process) while Paul Collingwood’s Test-best 186 has boosted him up to joint 34th position, a climb of 16 places.Ian Bell and Alastair Cook, two more century-makers from the Lord’s Test are up to joint 42nd and 51st place respectively, and the duo – along with Collingwood – have career-best ratings.The bowling ranks have seen no changes in the top 20 with England’s Matthew Hoggard still the highest-placed player from either side. He remains in fifth spot, ahead of injured team-mate Andrew Flintoff in sixth and another injured player, Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, in seventh position.Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan remains top rankings, clear of South African fast bowler Makhaya Ntini.

Sohail Tanvir, a Rawalpindi allrounder, has been called up to the Pakistan Twenty20 squad as a replacement to Shoaib Akhtar, who was sent home from South Africa after being involved in a dressing-room scuffle with team-mate Mohammad Asif.The ICC’s technical committee approved Tanvir as a replacement for Shoaib on the basis of “exceptional circumstances”. A statement released by the ICC cited the following reasons for the approval: “the incident and disciplinary action taken by the Pakistan board is not related to the matches in the event; the tournament has not commenced; and there is a precedent to support the replacement.”Tanvir, 22, who bowls left-arm medium-fast, played only two matches for the Rawalpindi Rams in Pakistan’s domestic Twenty20 tournament in the last season. He has scored 84 runs and taken no wickets in the 10 Twenty20 games he has played in the last three years. But he impressed national selectors in a series of training camps and practice matches over the summer and was said to be close to a place in the original squad. He is highly-rated by Aaqib Javed, coach at the National Cricket Academy, who says his wrong-foot action and pace are deceptive.Shoaib was handed an indefinite suspension after he allegedly hit Asif with a bat. He was already on six weeks’ probation following a breach of discipline last month after he left a training camp in Karachi without informing officials.Pakistan’s first match of the tournament is against Scotland in Durban on September 12.

Prasanna Jayawardene, the Sri Lankan Test wicketkeeper, is in a Wellington hospital after undergoing an emergency appendix operation. Jayawardene was admitted on Tuesday night after complaining of acute stomach pain and had surgery yesterday.The illness is the latest setback for Jayawardene after he was struck on the wrist by Shane Bond, while batting in the second innings of Sri Lanka’s series-leveling win at Wellington. Kumar Sangakkara took over the wicketkeeping duties in New Zealand’s second innings. Jayawardene, a Test specialist, was not chosen in Sri Lanka’s one-day or Twenty20 squads.Meanwhile, Malinga Bandara and Ruchira Perera, who toured with the Sri Lanka A squad in the West Indies, are expected to join the team on Friday. Both are likely to be considered for the second Twenty20 international at Eden Park, Auckland on December 26. The first Twenty20 international begins tomorrow at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium.

Andre Nel, the South African bowler, has been fined 20% of his match fee for breaching the ICC’s Code of Conduct during the 5th ODI between South Africa and India at Mumbai on November 28.Jeff Crowe, the ICC Match Referee, concluded that Nel was guilty of using foul language – a breach of ICC Code 1.4 – after conducting a hearing with Nel, Graeme Smith, and Goolam Rajah, the South African team manager, after the match. ICC Code 1.4 relates to “using language that is obscene, offensive or insulting” which includes swearing in frustration at one’s own poor play or misfortune. “While not wanting to stifle the character of a lively player such as Andre, his explicit obscene language that was witnessed by TV viewers is unacceptable,” Crowe said in an ICC media release.All Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand and a maximum penalty of 50% of a player’s match fee. The charge was brought by Daryl Harper and Hariharan Krishna, the on-field umpires, as well as Ivaturi Sivaram, the TV umpire , and Ravi Subramanium, the fourth umpire .