The early days of England's tour have been dominated by another watching brief over Flintoff, who was withdrawn from the opening tour game on the first day after complaining of a side strain. He made a day-trip to Jamaica for a scan, which came back clear, but life is never that simple for Flintoff. He has steadily built up his workload in recent days, but his preparation for such a crucial Test has been far from ideal.
New Zealand have been dealt two injury concerns before their one-day series in Australia with Jesse Ryder and Brendon McCullum both suffering problems during training in Canberra on Wednesday. Ryder will miss Thursday's warm-up match against the Prime Minister's XI after aggravating a shoulder injury.
The trouble with his rotator cuff had affected Ryder in New Zealand and flared up again at the team's net session. He will have an MRI scan on Wednesday night to determine whether a replacement player needs to be flown in for the ODI series, which begins in Perth on Sunday.
Gareth Hopkins has already been called on to join the squad in Perth after McCullum sustained a minor hip injury. McCullum responded well to physio treatment after training and is likely to play in Canberra, although it is not clear how much time he will be able to spend behind the stumps.
New Zealand's problems have been complicated by the fact that Ryder was the designated wicketkeeping reserve in the existing squad. Ryan Carters, a gloveman who has represented the Australian Capital Territory Under-19s, has been placed on standby in case New Zealand require a substitute wicketkeeper against the Prime Minister's XI.
New Zealand are already below full strength for the five-match ODI series with the allrounder Jacob Oram unavailable due to injury. The Prime Minister's XI will be captained by Justin Langer and features some players hoping to impress Australia's national selectors, including the in-form batsmen Phillip Hughes and Michael Klinger.Copyright 2008 All Rights Reserved Revolution Two Church theme by Brian Gardner Converted into Blogger Template by Bloganol dot com
