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Andrew Flintoff’s recovery from knee surgery has suffered a setback after the ECB revealed that he was suffering from deep vein thrombosis in his right calf.The condition, often associated with long-haul airline flights, is caused by blood clotting and can be fatal if it goes undetected. However, a statement from the ECB medical team described the setback as “a common complication of surgery”, adding that it would “require a simple course of treatment and will not complicate his recovery from surgery”.Flintoff underwent routine arthroscopy and micro-fracture to two small areas in his right knee on August 24, a day after England regained the Ashes, and was expected to be on crutches for a minimum of six weeks. He admitted in a newspaper interview that there was a chance he might never play again, but has targeted the tour of Bangladesh in February/March 2010 for his comeback.”You don’t want any complications, an operation like that is a big enough tribulation as it is,” said England’s captain, Andrew Strauss. “I just feel for him because he’s got a lot of rehab ahead of him, and you don’t want it to be slowed down in any way. Hopefully, it all will all go according to plan from here on.”The most famous case of cricketing DVT was that of Steve Waugh, who in 2001 underwent a course of blood-thinning treatment after developing a clot in the torn calf muscle which he had defied to score a memorable unbeaten 157 against England in the final Test of that summer at The Oval.Flintoff’s troublesome recovery from surgery follows that of his fellow star player, Kevin Pietersen, who spent two nights in hospital last month after suffering an infection in the stitching of his right Achilles.

The appointment of Daniel Vettori and Andy Moles on New Zealand’s national selection panel has evoked mixed reactions in the cricket world. Justin Vaughan, New Zealand Cricket’s CEO, described as “innovative” the move to include the pair in the panel – at present no other country has given voting rights to captain and coach – but some others were not so sure.Dilip Vengsarkar, India’s chairman of selectors between 2006 and 2008, felt the selection panel did not require any extra members. “I feel it is absolutely unnecessary,” Vengsarkar said. “I feel the captain and coach should be consulted but that’s about it. If you already have selectors, three, four, five or whatever number, then why have two more.”John Buchanan, the former Australian coach, backed the move, saying it would help “build the future of New Zealand cricket” by giving additional power to the coach. “It is definitely a good move,” Buchanan said. “If you take the current case of New Zealand, the coach is involved not only in shaping the team for the current series in Sri Lanka, but he is also very much involved in trying to shape New Zealand cricket’s future.”Trevor Bayliss, the Sri Lankan coach, believed that voting rights weren’t essential as long as the opinions of the captain and coach were taken into account. “If you have got four or five different thoughts on how the game should be played, or on the balance of the team, then that gives more options,” Bayliss said. “The best teams are ones who have more options.”Even if the coach and the captain don’t get a vote on the selection process, they get a fair hearing from the selectors in 99% of the cases,” he said. “You don’t want to have a case where the captain and coach are pulling in different directions. It is all about having a good discussion and reaching unified decisions.”It is good to have different opinions in selection but once the decision is made then you (captain and coach) support it. So, whether you actually get either a vote or a good hearing, I don’t see a big difference.”Bayliss didn’t agree with the view that the relationship between the players and the captain would get damaged if the captain and coach take the decision to drop a member of the team. “Anyone who gets dropped is not going to like or agree with the decision. But if you are honest to the player and give him feedback on how he could make a comeback, he might respect you more.”

The dispute over Andrew Strauss’s catch of Phillip Hughes at Lord’s reached the top levels of Cricket Australia, with the chief executive James Sutherland calling the ICC for further information on the decision. Sutherland said he was not questioning the umpire’s verdict but wanted to know why Strauss’s take on the fourth day was not referred to the TV umpire when Nathan Hauritz’s grab off Ravi Bopara was sent upstairs a day earlier.Bopara was reprieved while Hughes was given out – both replays were inconclusive – and that decision left Australia at 34 for 2 in their failed pursuit of 522 for victory. “I did ring [the ICC operations manager] Dave Richardson to seek clarification on the referral situation, but in no way was it any kind of complaint,” Sutherland told the Age. “I was seeking to understand the reason for the inconsistency and it was explained to my satisfaction.”Jeff Crowe, the match referee, explained the decision after the match, saying the difference between the judgments was Billy Doctrove believed the Strauss catch at first slip was out, while both men were unsure of the Hauritz appeal. Strauss said he was 100% certain he had held the ball – and had the bruises to prove it.Ricky Ponting was batting with Hughes and was seen to tell Hughes to wait at the crease in the hope that the decision would go to the third umpire. Ponting was involved in a series of minor incidents during the game, including when he received a mistaken caught-behind decision in the first innings, and was jeered by the crowd on most days.Sutherland said he had no problems with the behaviour of Ponting or his team. “I was extremely proud of how Ricky and all the players handled some tense situations,” he said. “I thought he behaved in an entirely appropriate way.”

ScorecardA steady performance from England Under-19’s bowlers consolidated the advantage provided by their batsmen and had Bangladesh Under-19 on the verge of following on by the end of the second day in Scarborough. England ended their first innings on 502 after which they chipped away at Bangladesh to reduce them to 265 for 9 at stumps, trailing by 237 runs.Riding to Joshua Cobb’s double-century, England had ended the first day on 422 for 8 and their last two wickets added another 80 runs this morning. Their captain, Hamza Riazuddin, who plays for Hampshire, built on his overnight score of 36 and reached 95 before he was the last man dismissed.Christopher Wood struck an early blow in Bangladesh’s reply, dismissing the opener Amit Majumder for 2. Bangladesh slipped further, losing Asif Ahmed and Saikat Ali after they had got starts, and were struggling at 89 for 3. They needed a substantial partnership and it was provided to them by Mominul and Anamul Haque who added 97 for the fourth wicket.Bangladesh’s recovery, though, was broken by Nathan Buck’s double-strike. He dismissed both the set batsmen, Anamul for 31 and Mominul for 90 in the space of nine runs. Bangladesh were 195 for 5 and lost wickets regularly thereafter, with the lower-order batsmen being unable to support Shabbir Rehman who remained unbeaten on 52. Scott Borthwick cut through the line-up, picking up 4 for 66 as the visitors crumbled to 265 for 9 at stumps.

Having earned themselves some valuable momentum in an otherwise low-key Test and ODI series against West Indies, England launch the ICC World Twenty20 next Friday when they take on Netherlands in the opening fixture at Lord’s. For their coach, Andy Flower, the tournament represents an opportunity to correct a poor record in the shortest format of the game.”We haven’t played good Twenty20 cricket [in the past] but that doesn’t mean we can’t do well in this competition,” Flower said in an interview with Big Hitter magazine. “We have guys with more Twenty20 experience now and we have the talent and variety of player necessary.”Aside from a trio of victories over New Zealand last year, England have not beaten a major nation over 20 overs since they squared their two-match series against West Indies at The Oval in June 2007. At the inaugural World Twenty20 three months later, their solitary victory came against Zimbabwe, before defeats to South Africa, New Zealand and India ended their participation.In total, England have won six and lost nine of their 15 Twenty20 internationals since defeating Australia by 100 runs in their maiden fixture in 2005. Only two players – Kevin Pietersen and the captain, Paul Collingwood – have been ever-present in the side, although their international commitments have meant they have often been unavailable to play in the domestic Twenty20 Cup.Flower, however, believes this year’s squad can draw on a range of experiences at international, domestic and IPL level, and aim for an improved performance. “One of the reasons why we haven’t nailed Twenty20 is because some of our internationals are not very experienced at it,” he said. “We’ve done a lot of thinking and analysis from what we’ve seen at the IPL – some of our players have been out there – so we’ve got some good information that should help us.”Though he himself did not play Twenty20 cricket at international level, Flower was a regular in Essex’s set-up until his retirement in 2007, and has plenty of theories as to how to succeed in the shortened format. “[You] must be able to adapt, have strong hitters and top-class batsmen up front,” he said. “Ravi Bopara has shown what a class player can do at the top of the order, which you need against the new ball – not just lower order sloggers thrown in.”It is important to have a blend in your batting and I believe we have that in our side,” he added. “Adaptability and flexibility is required because games can change so quickly. Down the order you need people who can hit boundaries and we have players like [Dimitri] Mascarenhas, [Owais] Shah, [Luke] Wright and [Graham] Napier to fulfil that role.”With the bowling a captain needs options in his attack – more so than in ODIs; people who can be brought on for one over to do a job. Everything is accelerated in Twenty20 cricket so one over is more like three or four. In terms of the variety in the bowling attack, you need a couple of quicks, a couple of medium pacers where the ‘keeper stands up and spin options.”With two centuries in the Tests against West Indies, Flower’s former Essex colleague Bopara is very much England’s man of the moment, and his role at the top of the batting order will be vital to the team’s bid for momentum.”An opener and his partner need to dovetail and be able to play a variety of games,” said Flower. “When it’s your day, and you are hitting the ball well, then you go on the attack, and other times it’s not [your day]. We have seen evidence of Ravi taking charge and other times when he has played second fiddle. It is important that he is capable of doing that but he also has enough class and timing to attack the new ball as well.””You do need to have people capable of hitting over the boundary but you don’t need to be a huge hitter [to do well],” he added. “If you aren’t [a huge hitter] then you have to be skilful in other areas. James Foster, for instance, is in the side for his scoring ability lower down the order in manoeuvring the ball into different areas.”You don’t have to beat the ball out of the park to be effective. Eoin Morgan is the same – a good player of spin who plays slightly differently. As a coach you need to be able to adapt to the players at your disposal. All the players are good players in their own right so I will try to help them in any area I can. Most of the time my approach is to try to enhance the strengths they already have.”Though Flower admitted that the loss of Andrew Flintoff to a knee injury would be a blow to the team’s prospects, he resisted any temptation to offer a recall to Nottinghamshire’s spinning allrounder, Samit Patel, who was omitted from the original squad on the grounds of his poor fitness, and instead opted for Yorkshire’s legspinner, Adil Rashid.”The situation with Samit is simple,” said Flower. “He was de-selected because he hadn’t made any improvement in his fitness. We believe fitness is very important in the progress of the team and as long as people are improving they don’t have to be perfect physical specimens. No improvement was made by Samit over a two-month period so that’s why we made him unavailable for selection for the World Twenty20.”Issue One of Big Hitter magazine will be on sale in the UK from Saturday, May 30

Pakistan players Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Razzaq have expressed their relief at returning to the national team after the Pakistan Cricket Board had accepted their resignation from the unofficial ICL. The PCB had waived the “cooling period” for the duo, meaning that they could return as early as the tour of Sri Lanka which starts in late June.”It is a great relief to be cleared to play for Pakistan again because I have missed the competition that is available while playing for your country,” Yousuf told PTI. “I had given my resignation to the board sometime back and finally the ICL has accepted it.”Yousuf had signed up with the ICL in 2007, quit and rejoined the following year. He also had his differences with the previous PCB administration under Nasim Ashraf and the former captain Shoaib Malik. He represented the Lahore Badshahs along with a number of other Pakistan players for one season in 2008.Now set for a second stint with the national side, he said he was looking forward to starting off on a clean slate. “What happened in the past is now in the past,” he said. “My experience with the ICL was a short one but there is no greater pride then playing for your country.”Razzaq had a longer spell with the ICL, joining the league in 2007 after he was excluded from the World Twenty20 squad the same year. He was one of the key players for the Hyderabad Heroes in their title win in 2008.”I had resigned from the league sometime back but they gave an NOC recently. But I have always said I wanted to play for Pakistan and it was the board’s decision to not allow us to play for the national team.”He also assured that the ICL had no issues with him quitting. “They understand the situation and they never stopped us from playing for our country they looked after us well.”

Former Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu has been acquitted of assaulting Esther Lupepe, Zimbabwe Cricket’s general finance manager, after Harare Magistrates’ Court found “glaring inconsistencies” in the prosecution’s evidence, describing it as discredited and unreliable.Taibu had been charged with assaulting Lupepe in an incident at a travel agents in Harare after he claimed that he was owed money by the board. He strenuously denied the accusations. But Tapiwa Godzi, the magistrate, said the court was still in doubt as to how the assault was alleged to have been perpetrated.”It’s either this case was fabricated or the testimony of the witnesses is grossly exaggerated to the extent of making it unbelievable,” Godzi said. “In the premises, the application for discharge at the close of the state’s case is hereby granted. The accused is accordingly found not guilty and acquitted. It would be futile to put the accused person to his defence.”The collapse of the case will be yet another embarrassment for Zimbabwe Cricket. Taibu had always maintained that Lupepe’s actions were part of a wider conspiracy by the board aimed at preventing him going public over its finances and treatment of players.Only last week an ICC report, referring to the poor relationship between board and players, mentioned the ongoing case.While the board has sought to distance itself from the trial, several sources close to it have told Cricinfo that there were glaring inconsistencies in the allegations and rumours have continued to do the rounds that Taibu’s counter-claims had merit.Taibu has had a fractious relationship with senior board officials since he walked out in 2005 after claims that senior officials had made open threats against his family. He subsequently returned, but following the accusations by Lupepe he has been openly at odds with ZC. He was only persuaded at the last minute to join the national squad when it headed to Canada for a quadrangular Twenty20 tournament last October, and missed recent matches after his kit was mislaid.

Group B

Lahore Lions took the D/L route to seal their spot in the semi-finals with a seven-wicket win against the Peshawar Panthers at the Lahore Country Club. Put in by the hosts, Peshawar were off on the wrong foot with Israullah falling off the first ball, bowled by Junaid Zia. But it was captain Sajjad Ahmed’s composed 77 which pushed Peshawar to 182 for 5 in 37. 3 overs. Sajjad stroked seven boundaries during his 100-ball innings. Raza Ali and Sohail Ahmed set the tone during the chase, as Lahore raced to 113. Both openers were severe on the bowlers as Raza brought up his fifty. However, he was dismissed soon after, for 59, having hit five fours and two sixes en route. When the game was finally called off after 14 overs, Lahore’s score of 142 for 3 was enough to hand them the win.Faisalabad Wolves’ thumping victory against Sialkot Stallions at the Iqbal Stadium was not enough to guarantee them a semis spot. A whirlwind 78 from Zeeshan Asif did help them to a nine-wicket win and helped them draw level on points with Lahore on points, but an inferior run-rate meant they had to be content being second on the points table. Faisalabad chose to field first in the match reduced to 20 overs, and Zahoor Khan provided the perfect start with two quick blows. Rizwan Sultan and Ayaz Tasawwar however steadied the Sialkot innings putting on 62 for the third wicket. Rizwan was aggressive during his 45-ball 65, hitting seven sixes, as the visitors finished on 134. The Faisalabad openers were off to a rousing start, as their strike rates soared. Imran Ali and Zeeshan looked firmly in control as they rushed to 114. Zeeshan finally fell having smashed nine boundaries and five sixes in his 30-ball innings. Imran however powered on, hitting six fours during his unbeaten 35 off 16 balls, as the hosts reached the target in the ninth over.

Group C

A brilliant 93 from Sohail Tanvir helped Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) beat Sui Southern Gas Corporation (SSGC) by seven wickets at Khan Research Laboratory Ground. Electing to bat, SSGC made a solid start with openers Asif Zakir and Wajid Ali putting on 44. Ahmed Zeeshan joined Zakir and added a further 77 as the visitors looked on course for a big score. Zakir ended on 53, which included three fours, while Zeeshan stroked five boundaries and a six during his breezy 50. A disciplined bowling performance however contained SSGC to 233. In reply, KRL started impressively with Azhar Ali and Tanvir putting on 62 for the opening wicket. Wicketkeeper Zulfiqar Jan joined Tanvir later to further strengthen the hosts. Tanvir’s 113-ball knock included eight fours and one six while Jan provided able support with a quick 50. However, at 179 for 3, it was left to Rizwan Ahmed (43) who took KRL home in the 43rd over.A sparkling century from Inam-ul-Haq handed Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) a seven-wicket win against Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) at the Diamond Club Ground. PIA, who had already secured a place in the last four, chose to bat and looked to be struggling at 54 for 3 before Yasir Hameed starred with a 79-ball 58, comprising six boundaries. The fourth-wicket partnership with Kamran Sajid was the highest of the innings as PIA were bowled out in the 42nd over for 196. Kashif Daud and Abdul Razzaq were ZTBL’s most successful bowlers with three wickets apiece while Junaid Nadir and Zohaib Khan picked up two each. There was a slight hiccup at the start of the chase with Anwar Ali picking up two quick wickets. But Haq seized the initiative and took the game away from PIA. He was partnered well by Adnan Raza who scored a controlled 59. But even when the 146-run stand came to an end, Haq guided ZTBL home in the 39th over. He remained unbeaten on 100, stroking ten fours and two sixes during his 117-ball innings.

The USACA and the ICC have both denied reports that a new chief executive has been appointed for US cricket.In an article last week, Cricinfo’s former US correspondent wrote that Imran Khan had been appointed to the post, but it soon became apparent that was not the case.The ICC told Cricinfo that the process for identifying the right CEO had been “thorough, extensive and professional” and that “the timeline for the completion of the last steps of this process was / has been set at end-March for some months now and, assuming everything goes to plan with the final stages, it seems all is on track for this to be achieved”. Those sentiments were endorsed by USACA secretary, John Aaron.For his part, Imran Khan told dreamcricket.com that he had had “on idea” where the story came from.The same source indicated that the match between USA and Canada had been agreed for memorial Day weekend, but Aaron again explained this was not the case.”It was an idea that was discussed, but no definitive plans were made to accommodate the match,” he said. “As you are aware, it costs lots of money to assemble a team of players and officials in the USA to travel anywhere.”Therefore, although Canada has since offered to provide accommodation and meals on game day, USACA still has to underwrite the expenses of flying players from as far west as California to New York, then to Toronto. In addition, there are other areas of expense that are likely to be incurred, and at this point in time USACA’s focus is on the appointment of a CEO.”

Pakistan have left out Rao Iftikhar Anjum from the 22 probables for the first Test against Sri Lanka, which starts in Karachi on February 21. The selectors have recalled left-hander Asim Kamal, and have also included some of the leading domestic performers this season – allrounder Fawad Alam and upcoming fast bowler Mohammad Talha.”Rao is a good fast bowler for one-day cricket, but we have depth in our fast bowling for Test matches,” chief selector Abdul Qadir said. Anjum, who has 56 ODI appearances, has played only one Test, against Sri Lanka in Kandy in 2006. The squad will be trimmed to 14 or 15 after a short training camp in Karachi, which starts on February 15.”We have good cushion in the middle-order with batsmen like Kamal, Faisal Iqbal and uncapped Saeed Bin Nasir,” Qadir said. Kamal last played for Pakistan in December 2005, against England in Lahore. In 12 Tests, he has scored 717 runs at 37.73, with a best of 99.Shoaib Akhtar had already been ruled out of the two-Test series after being advised to undergo knee surgery following the ODI series against Sri Lanka last month. Kamran Akmal and Sarfraz Ahmed are the two wicketkeepers among the probables.The Karachi Test will be Pakistan’s first five-day game since the third Test against India in Bangalore in December 2007. Legspinner Danish Kaneria is likely to make his first international appearance after a year on the sidelines – he is not a regular in Pakistan’s limited-overs teams. It will also be the first assignment under recently-appointed captain Younis Khan, who replaced Shoaib Malik after the 2-1 loss to Sri Lanka in the ODIs, including an embarrassing 234-run defeat in the decider in Lahore.Probables: Younis Khan, Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Khurram Manzoor, Shoaib Malik, Misbah-ul-Haq, Faisal Iqbal, Asim Kamal, Fawad Alam, Bazid Khan, Saeed Bin Nasir, Sohail Tanvir, Yasir Arafat, Danish Kaneria, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Umar Gul, Mohammad Talha, Sohail Khan, Abdul Rauf, Saeed Ajmal, Sarfraz Ahmed.