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Ryan Sidebottom is back in the frame for the Ashes•Getty Images

Ryan Sidebottom has earned a recall to England’s squad for the fourth Test at Headingley, while Warwickshire’s in-form batsman, Jonathan Trott, has been drafted in as batting cover for the struggling Andrew Flintoff, as England seek to bounce back from a chastening final day at Edgbaston.Having begun the day with an outside chance of forcing victory in the third Test, England’s attack was instead left looking toothless by Australia’s middle order, in particular Michael Clarke and Marcus North, whose fifth-wicket stand of 185 saved the match with ease.What is more, England finished the game with serious concerns about the fitness and form of two of their bowlers – Flintoff, whose dodgy right knee restricted him to just 11 overs in the day and left his participation at Headingley in serious doubt, and Stuart Broad, whose hit-the-deck style caused Australia few problems for the third match running.Sidebottom’s inclusion on his former home ground is a clear indication that England intend to use swing as their preferred route to Ashes success. Trott’s inclusion, meanwhile, is a sure sign that the selectors are anxious about the fitness of Flintoff, as they seek extra batting cover in the event of having to rejig the balance of their side. Trott is currently averaging 99.75 in first-class cricket, but has not featured in an England squad since playing two Twenty20s against West Indies in 2007.”Both players have been in good form for their counties in recent weeks and as selectors we are delighted that competition for places in the side is so strong,” said the national selector, Geoff Miller. “Jonathan Trott has also performed really well for Warwickshire this season and his place in the squad is fully deserved. His inclusion will provide us with the option of playing six batsmen if we feel this is appropriate.”We will continue to closely monitor Andrew Flintoff’s fitness in the build-up-up to Headingley. His right knee will be reassessed by our medical staff over the next forty-eight hours and no final decision on his availability will be taken until closer to the start of the Test match.”Sidebottom’s inclusion in the squad was telegraphed by an ECB request to his county side Nottinghamshire, who have been asked to omit him from their team for tomorrow’s County Championship fixture at Horsham.Though he has not played a Test for England since the tour of the Caribbean in February, when he struggled with an Achilles injury and managed just one wicket in 59 overs on tour, Sidebottom’s accuracy and ability as a left-armer to bend the ball back into the right-hander has long been prized by the England selectors.He was England’s Player of the Year in 2008 after a remarkable return to the side after six years on the sidelines, in which he claimed 53 wickets in 12 months, including a haul of 24 in three Tests in a series-winning display in New Zealand. His comeback fixture took place in May 2007 at Headingley, where he learnt his trade with Yorkshire for six seasons from 1997, and he marked the occasion with eight wickets to set up an innings victory over West Indies.Lateral movement has been England’s key to success in an Ashes series in which they lead 1-0 despite being outbatted by six centuries to one in the three Tests to date. Australia’s batting has crumbled on the two occasions when England have moved the ball consistently through the air – in the decisive first innings at Lord’s, when they were shot out for 215, and then again on the second morning at Edgbaston, when they lost 7 for 77 in the session. Aside from those two occasions, Australia have amassed 1455 runs for the loss of 21 wickets.”When a wicket’s flat, it’s flat, and it’s very hard to kind of conjure something out of nothing,” said England’s captain, Andrew Strauss. “It’s something we’ve got to keep working on, because all around the world these days a lot of the wickets are like that. We’ve got to keep working on our plan Bs, what we can do as variations. It’s always a big challenge when there’s not much happening on the pitch.”That’s where Sidebottom’s innate ability comes into the equation, having prised out five wickets on a typically flat deck at Taunton last week. Although Broad contributed some very useful runs at No. 8, and was praised by his captain for producing his best spell of the series on the final afternoon at Edgbaston, he has so far managed six wickets at 57.50, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that England cannot afford to include two hit-the-deck bowlers against this current Australian batting line-up, especially if one of them, Flintoff, is less than fully fit.Strauss nevertheless remains “optimistic” that Flintoff will be fit for Headingley. “There is obviously some soreness there but I don’t think there’s anything that has deteriorated massively over the course of the game,” he said. “He needs to rest up well because back-to-back Tests are hard for any bowlers and we’ll see how he is on Thursday. We want to play our best team in every game we play but we’ve got to be conscious that if he’s not fit enough to do his job then he won’t play.”Steve Harmison remains on standby as Flintoff’s like-for-like replacement, having played through the pain of blistered feet to wrap up Durham’s sixth Championship win of the series against Sussex yesterday. His second-innings figures of 3 for 68 took his season tally to 53 wickets at 19.37, and underlined his stated “desperation” to play a part in the Ashes.”In choosing our squad for this Test match, we decided to omit a second spinner as Headingley is not usually a ground where two spinners are required and therefore Monty Panesar misses out on selection this time,” said Miller. “We will need to carefully assess the pitch and the overhead conditions at Headingley before finalising our eleven for this Test and the inclusion of Stephen Harmison and Ryan Sidebottom will give us different types of pace bowling options.”Squad 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Ravi Bopara, 4 Ian Bell, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Matt Prior (wk), 7 Andrew Flintoff, 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 James Anderson, 11 Graham Onions, 12 Steve Harmison, 13 Ryan Sidebottom, 14 Jonathan Trott.

An Australian cricketer’s confidence, at least in public utterances, never wavers. Not in the face of sparse results, a growing list of doubters or being behind in an Ashes series for the second time in consecutive tours. The players are preparing to enter the third Test with an opener who hasn’t been able to cope with the short ball, a blunt bowling spearhead and a number of possible permutations over their XI, but with the way they talk it’s almost like they own the 1-0 advantage.There are only positives in the problems of Phillip Hughes and Mitchell Johnson, and opportunities for those who might be so lucky to replace them. Michael Clarke, the vice-captain, said the make-up of the team had not been discussed among the group this week, other than everyone being told by the captain and coach that they could play at Edgbaston. It’s not quite a crisis, but with only three matches remaining the time for cheerful chatter must soon switch to on-field action.So given their situation, why do the tourists have such confidence in a swift comeback? “It’s the Australian way, I guess,” Clarke said. “We play this game for one reason: to win. We love the game we play, we’ll be out there on Thursday backing ourselves 100% to win this game.”Times of trouble spur Australians more, they claim, and there have been series full of them over the past year. It is virtually impossible to speak to a player in the squad without them mentioning the tour of South Africa, where they beat the hosts to maintain their No. 1 ranking. However, on current results that series is the exception, not the light to guide them through a blip.”We play our best cricket when the chips are down, we are 1-0 down and we’ll take the positives out of that,” Clarke said. “We know where we let ourselves down over the past two Tests and we know the areas we want to improve. I’m certain if we play our best cricket we will win this Test.”Four years ago the Australian selectors were slow to act as Ricky Ponting’s squad lost the Ashes 2-1. The refurbished panel, which is led by Andrew Hilditch, has also shown a tendency to let things slide rather than make a firm decision when it comes to their respected players. It happened with Brett Lee and Matthew Hayden during their home summer and appears to be occurring again with Mitchell Johnson, who has been a shadow of the hero who turned up in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. All Johnson’s team-mates expect him to do an excellent job if he plays at Edgbatson.The closest Clarke came to admitting things haven’t gone exactly to plan came when he said “things could be better”. “We could be 1-0 up, there are things we need to improve with bat and ball,” he said. “We need to be playing our best cricket to beat England in these conditions.”Despite losing Kevin Pietersen, England remain inspired by the Andrew Flintoff wave that rose in the second innings at Lord’s. Flintoff is sleeping with an ice machine to ensure his problem knee is ready for back-to-back Tests and the Australians are wary of him.Clarke is the most qualified batsman to deal with Flintoff, having not been dismissed by him in 12 Tests. The statistic surprised Clarke – “I didn’t know that, touch wood, hopefully Thursday’s not the day” – but he does not expect Flintoff to carry England to victory.”He’s an amazing player and has been for a long time, but I’m not disappointed that I won’t have to face him after this series again in Test cricket,” Clarke said. “It’s always a contest. I hope Andrew is fit and ready to go and can finish the series, he certainly deserves that. Unfortunately, I think he’s going to be finishing as a loser when we win the series.” Of course, an Australian player would say that.

With all the technology now used to analyse cricket it’s amazing that anything remains a mystery, but it appears no amount of slow-motion replays and computer programmes can help batsmen unravel the skills of Ajantha Mendis. Another magical spell, this time of 3 for 9, ended a promising start to New Zealand’s run-chase even though Daniel Vettori was adamant his players knew what was coming at them.Mendis’ crucial impact came in his second over – the ninth of the innings – when he lured Ross Taylor into an ugly heave across the line and then beat Scott Styris’ prod with one that held its line. He later returned to remove Peter McGlashan and didn’t concede a boundary in his three overs – such was Sri Lanka’s dominance he didn’t have to bowl his full quota. Each time Kumar Sangakkara’s team has been tested in this tournament, it has had the bowling to withstand the pressure.It left Vettori in phlegmatic mood after a tournament where their batting failed to fire. “I think we played the first six overs pretty well and I was fairly happy with our position,” he said. “Unfortunately, which makes it tough, a lot of guys picked Mendis today, but he still bowled so well that it was difficult to score from him and you saw the turn he got which made it even harder. We can sit here and blame our players – and we will work hard on our reviews – but you still have to admire the quality of bowling on display.”Mendis has been on the international scene for a year after making his debut in West Indies and the library of footage of him flicking his carrom ball and varying his pace is growing. That, though, has been of little help to the growing list of batsmen who have been left looking a little foolish.”The guys picked him, I don’t think he’s a mystery bowler just a very good bowler,” Vettori added. “It’s the same with [Muttiah] Muralitharan. Over the years guys have been able to decipher what he bowls but he’s still so good that it’s difficult. It’s the same with a number of bowlers around the world – once you’ve picked them it’s a great thing, but if they’re still good enough to beat then it’s very tough.”And it isn’t just opposition batsmen who are left befuddled. Even Mendis’ team-mates, which include some of the best players of spin in the world, have been left floundering during net sessions. “He still gets us sometimes,” Mahela Jayawardene said with a smile. “Too many things come out of his fingers so it’s very difficult to keep track of it. He’s something special, but the important thing is he has maintained his dignity. He’s got great support from Murali and it’s an ideal atmosphere for a young spinner to come through.”To make life even tougher for New Zealand it wasn’t only Mendis they had to contend with, but also the experience of Muralitharan and the ever-increasing variety produced by Lasith Malinga. Although they welcomed back Ross Taylor – albeit not 100% fit after his hamstring injury – and were boosted by the availability of Brendon McCullum, Sri Lanka always held that X-factor.Vettori was honest enough to admit that the batting had struggled badly with the highest score against a major team being their 127 at Lord’s, when they lost to South Africa by one run. Only against Scotland, when they knocked off 90 in six overs, and against Ireland where they racked up 198 has the order come close to its potential.”It has been difficult, but we have been lucky with a fortunate draw which meant we could win just two games before today against Associate teams and still have a chance of making the semi-finals. In a lot of a ways that probably wasn’t right.” Vettori said. “We were at full strength [today] apart from Jesse and, we still had the opportunity today to turn up and win the game so we are devastated.”For a group of guys who had such high expectations, especially of our batting order, our highest score was about 120 and that’s just not good enough.”Sri Lanka have no such concerns with their form. They have scored the runs required and even totals that haven’t appeared too daunting grow in value when placed alongside the attack that will defend them.”We have a very good bowling attack and if our batsmen back themselves to get the runs on the board or chase them down I’m confident we can go all the way,” Jayawardene said, while cautioning that the job wasn’t done. “We set ourselves goals coming into the tournament and now we have two more goals. We just need to stay calm and try and get another win to get into the final.”With the form they have shown it will take a commanding performance to bring them down and a batsman to master the international man of mystery. But ominously for anyone who feels they can conquer Mendis, there was a promise of more to come as Jayawardene translated for his team-mate. “He feels because batsmen aren’t familiar with him he’ll stick to what he does, but he has a few plans up his sleeve.” The tricks he already has are working just fine at the moment.

Haroon Lorgat, the ICC’s chief executive, has conceded that players could be tempted to reduce or end their involvement in international cricket to participate in lucrative domestic Twenty20 leagues. In an interview with Cricinfo, Lorgat also revealed that an IPL window would be considered for the new Future Tours Programme (FTP), and stated his opposition to calls for an expansion of Twenty20 cricket at international level.While expressing confidence that the majority of international cricketers were still driven to represent their countries in Test and limited-overs fixtures, Lorgat admitted that the riches on offer in the IPL would prove the stronger motivation for some players. The ICC, he said, was investigating a number of measures to safeguard international cricket from the proliferating Twenty20 leagues, but feared other players could subscribe to the sentiments of Chris Gayle, the West Indian captain, who recently suggested cricketers could shun international matches for large Twenty20 paydays.”I have no doubt that there will be some players who will believe that, who would see that,” Lorgat said. “But I know there are equally a lot of players who will want to keep their avenues open to playing and competing at an international level. There would be some who would prefer or enjoy making the best financial rewards, and there are others who will want a balance between what they make in terms of a good reward and representing their countries.”We would be foolish not to recognise that the environment is changing. It was unfortunate that Chris Gayle’s comments were portrayed in that fashion. I’m sure on reflection he must be thinking twice about what he said, because if you speak to many, many players – and I do engage with the players – they still recognise Test cricket as the ultimate form of the game. They want to be tested and rated on that form of the game. Maybe Chris Gayle is appearing in a phase of his life where it is less important to him, but I can promise you that the younger generation of players that I speak to are far from the sentiment that Chris Gayle expresses.”Lorgat said a number of measures were being considered to ensure the primacy of international cricket, including efforts to better promote and market the Test and one-day formats. But Lorgat was cautious about the possibility of creating an IPL window in the cricketing calendar – a move that has the strong backing of players and their unions – questioning whether such a development would create precedents for other domestic Twenty20 leagues around the world.”We will explore that,” Lorgat said. “We will look at all things. We are busy discussing the FTP post-2012, and we will have to look logically at what is right. But it’s very difficult for us to create a window for a domestic event, because that’s not what the FTP is.”The FTP is an international basket of fixtures. That’s what it is. The rest of the domestic seasons for every member country sorts themselves out. You could feasibly (create an IPL window), but why would you do it? It’s a domestic event. If you do it in one domestic season, what about all the other domestic seasons? There could be many others that arise. The FTP is done by the members for international fixtures.”Despite criticism of the scheduling of cricket, Lorgat insisted he was satisfied with the balance of the cricketing calendar. The new FTP, he believes, will be similar to the current model which expires in 2012, albeit with a greater emphasis on marquee series.A number of players and officials have insisted in recent months that cricket’s current scheduling is not sustainable, and could push fatigued players into the seductive embrace of domestic Twenty20 leagues. The recent series between England and the West Indies – scheduled outside the FTP – attracted particularly fierce criticism with some, including the West Indies Players Association, accusing boards of greed by cramming too many matches into the cricketing calendar.”If I have got some serious influence on the Twenty20 competition, it should be not much different to what we see today,” Lorgat said. “That’s simply because we are very fortunate they we have three viable formats. We know Twenty20 is hugely attractive. We’ve got to be careful how much of that dosage we pass onto the audience. We have to balance in some respect between Test, 50-over and Twenty20. I think at the moment we’ve got it right. It’s attraction is unequalled, and here we are on the eve of a world tournament (World Twenty20).”Lorgat also maintained that Twenty20 cricket should not be expanded at international level.”What I do believe is that it should be more a domestic form of the game rather than international,” he said. “We’ve got great forms in Test cricket, being the pinnacle of the game, and the 50-over game I still believe is alive and well. We will see that in due course. I agree with the current balance that we’ve got with internationals being limited in terms of the 20-over form.”

England have shown faith in the players that secured the Women’s World Cup in Australia for the ICC World Twenty20 which will run alongside the men’s tournament in June.Charlotte Edwards leads the 14-strong squad which includes prolific run-scorer Claire Taylor, who was named one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year, and Nicky Shaw who claimed Player of the Match in the World Cup final against New Zealand in Sydney.The one player to be dropped is reserve wicketkeeper Lauren Griffiths as the women only have to name a 14-player squad.The women’s tournament starts on June 11 and the initial phase is based at Taunton. The semi-finals and final will be held on the same day as the men’s matches at Trent Bridge, The Oval and Lord’s.Squad Charlotte Edwards (capt), Caroline Atkins, Katherine Brunt, Holly Colvin, Isha Guha, Jenny Gunn, Lydia Greenway, Beth Morgan, Nicky Shaw, Amy Shrubsole, Laura Marsh, Ebony Rainford-Brent, Claire Taylor, Sarah Taylor

Match facts

April 19, 2009
Start time 16.30pm (14.30GMT)Plenty will be expected from Herschelle Gibbs, who made 253 runs in five ODIs against Australia•AFP

Big Picture

Neither team had a campaign to remember last year, but here’s an opportunity for both Kolkata Knight Riders and Deccan Chargers to begin afresh and improve significantly on what they did in 2008.Kolkata have hogged the limelight in the build-up to IPL 2009, while Deccan Chargers have been virtually silent. Plenty has been written and said about John Buchanan’s radical multiple captain theory, but Brendon McCullum’s subsequent appointment as captain put to rest all the speculation. Sourav Ganguly said he was ‘okay’ with that decision, but he, and the other key players in the team, will need to play significant roles if Kolkata are to finish higher than last year’s sixth place. In Chris Gayle and McCullum, they have potentially one of the most explosive opening combinations in the tournament, while Ishant Sharma and Ajantha Mendis could be quite a handful with the ball. First, though, they need to keep out the extraneous factors and concentrate on the cricket.The Deccan Chargers haven’t been in the news much, but after their disastrous season last year, they’ve probably decided that a low-key pre-tournament approach would serve them better. In Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs, they have an opening pair to match Kolkata’s but the bowling looks thin, and could well be their Achilles heel.

Player form guide

Deccan: Gibbs is coming off a spanking century and an 82 in the last two ODIs against Australia, and the fact that those runs came in similar conditions makes him the best bet for Deccan. Most of the others, though, aren’t in such sparkling form: Rohit Sharma has struggled since last year’s IPL, VVS Laxman isn’t known for his skills in this format, while Fidel Edwards hasn’t proved himself in Twenty20 cricket either.Kolkata: McCullum was in outstanding form during the series against India, while Gayle carted it around as well in the recent series against England. Mendis wasn’t so effective against India, while Ishant Sharma was below par against New Zealand.

In from the cold

Adam Gilchrist hasn’t played any competitive cricket for more than a year – he retired after India’s tour of Australia early last year. With him opening the batting, keeping wicket, and leading the team, much will depend on how ready he is for battle.Sourav Ganguly played three List A games and one first-class match last season, but hasn’t played top-class cricket since retiring from Tests in November last year.

Watch out for

Ishant Sharma v Gilchrist & Gibbs: Ishant was a more than handful for the Australians on their bouncy pitches last year, and in helpful conditions, he could pose plenty of questions for Deccan’s openers. Equally, neither Gilchrist nor Gibbs will take a backward step, especially in this format, which could make for a spicy contest.

Friendly fire

Gayle v Edwards: If Edwards gets the new ball and finds his rhythm early, there could be some fireworks when he bowls to his West Indian captain.

Team news

With Andrew Symonds away on national duty, Deccan are without one of their biggest crowdpullers and matchwinners. In his absence, there’ll be added responsibility on Rohit to repeat last year’s heroics. In conditions which should help seam and swing, Chaminda Vaas could be handy and should bag the allrounder’s slot.Deccan Chargers (probable) 1 Adam Gilchrist (capt & wk), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Ravi Teja, 4 VVS Laxman, 5 Rohit Sharma, 6 Venugopal Rao, 7 Chaminda Vaas, 8 Pragyan Ojha, 9 RP Singh, 10 DP Vijaykumar, 11 Fidel Edwards.Like Deccan, Kolkata will miss an Australian too – David Hussey is readying himself for the ODIs against Pakistan, and in his absence Brad Hodge should get a chance as one of the four foreign players. Kolkata have a slight injury concern with Cheteshwar Pujara, who injured his knee during a warm-up game. If he doesn’t recover, Vinit Indulkar or Sanjay Bangar might get a game. With the conditions being what they are, it’s unlikely Kolkata will play two spinners, which suggests Murali Kartik will miss out.Kolkata Knight Riders (probable) 1 Brendon McCullum (capt), 2 Chris Gayle, 3 Sourav Ganguly, 4 Brad Hodge, 5 Cheteshwar Pujara, 6 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 7 Laxmi Ratan Shukla, 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Ishant Sharma, 10 Ashok Dinda, 11 Ajantha Mendis.

Head-to-head record

Deccan opened their campaign last year too against Kolkata, and lost on a minefield of a pitch at the Eden Gardens by five wickets. The return game was a high-scoring one, and Kolkata won that too, by 23 runs.

Quotes

“He [Ganguly] is an icon who has always had a way with younger players and it is wonderful to watch how they respond and react to him. I am sure that Sourav will be one of the chief motivators for the youngsters in the group this year as well.”

After a winless season in 2008, Surrey may have hoped for a more promising start than this in their bid for an immediate return to top-flight cricket. Play may have been restricted to a mere 17 overs on another soggy day at The Oval, but in that time they still contrived to spiral to 18 for 3 in their first innings, having earlier claimed Gloucestershire’s last two wickets in a total of 333. James Franklin started the rot with the scalps of both openers, Michael Brown and Laurie Evans, before Jon Lewis removed Matt Spriegel for a duck. Usman Afzaal and Jon Batty saw them to the close without further loss, but they’ve got a lot of recovering to do yet.A mere 22.4 overs were possible on the second day at Chelmsford, which was enough time for David Masters and Chris Wright to claim Derbyshire’s last three wickets for 20 runs in 9.4 overs. Wright grabbed each of the last two batsmen for figures of 4 for 86, leaving Varun Chopra and Jason Gallian 13 overs to negotiate before the close. They did so without being separated in a stand of 29.No play was possible on the second day between Northamptonshire and Leicestershire at Grace Road.

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has attributed his players’ immediate reaction in taking cover when terrorists attacked their team bus in Lahore to the situation in his country. “We have been brought up in a background of terrorist activities,” Jayawardene said after the squad returned home to relieved relatives and tearful hugs late Tuesday night. “We are used to hearing, seeing these things – firing, bombings. So we ducked under our seats when the firing began. It was like natural instinct.”The Sri Lanka cricketers were on their way to the Gaddafi stadium when their bus was attacked by 12 armed terrorists near Liberty market. A grenade was also thrown at the bus but it missed.Jayawardene said the players just wanted to spend time with their families now. “I am a Buddhist and I think we have done some merit in our previous birth to escape with minor injuries.” He also said the attack on the team could have happened anywhere and could not be pinned down to Pakistan. “In the future, I think all of us will step back and look at the bigger picture besides just touring abroad, taking into account our families.”Muttiah Muralitharan said he saw images of his life flashing by when the bus came under attack. “All the while bullets were being sprayed at our bus, people around me were shouting. I am glad to be back.”While most of the players had minor injuries, Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paravitana had to be taken to hospital for their wounds in Lahore. Geethanjana Mendis, a sports medicine specialist who examined the players, said they would need further treatment and surgery.Suranga Lakmal, one of the players injured, was received at the airport by his anxious parents. “He is our only son. We have not eaten anything since we heard the news,” his father Albert said.The tour to Pakistan was Lakmal’s first call-up to the Sri Lankan national side.

The name Jan Stander may not mean much to South Africans, but in Scottish cricket it has caused no shortage of consternation. Stander, 27, has become the latest African-born player in the Scotland contingent as they prepare for next month’s crucial World Cup Qualifiers in Johannesburg.”It was definitely a surprise for me,” Stander told .”I did feel I had to prove a lot because I didn’t play for the A side last year. It’s a good thing there’s pressure because I think one of my strengths is thriving under it. I definitely felt it sub-consciously because a lot of people have their opinions on foreign players turning out for other countries.”Stander, who is not eligible for a British passport until 2011, joins Ryan Watson and Dewald Nel as one of Scotland’s African contingent, but the man himself has no concerns over his allegiances.”I came to Scotland as an amateur in 2003 and 2004,” said Stander, who is to marry his Scottish fiancée this summer. “If it had been my aim to come here and represent the country, then I would have made sure I stayed for 186 days of the year. Because then I would have qualified two years ago. I stayed here because I liked the country. There was nothing to go back to in South Africa. I was given the opportunity in coaching here and I’ve been loyal.”The fact that I can speak the mother tongue might help us getting some information from local people there. It will be my first tournament and the key for me is to focus on my own game and performing if I get the opportunity.”

The ECB has finalised a deal that will allow England’s leading cricketers to appear in the Indian Premier League for three weeks, while the 12 players with central contracts have finally put pen to paper ahead of the Test series against West Indies.The 21-day block is a compromise position after Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, said he wanted England stars to be available for at least four weeks of the event while the ECB were keen for just a two-week release.”It’s great to see some flexibility and the players should thank the IPL and the ECB for allowing them to participate,” Sean Morris, the Professional Cricketers’ Association chairman, told .The window falls between the end of the tour of West Indies and the start of the return series at home in early May. It means that, if they take part, the likes of Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen won’t have any first-class cricket before the first Test at Lord’s on May 6.However, before leaving for West Indies the England captain Andrew Strauss said he would trust his players to make their own decisions on preparing for the Test series against West Indies.”Players have to be fully prepared for a Test match,” he said. “What that preparation is depends on the player to a certain extent. I believe the players who will be involved in the IPL are experienced campaigners. They didn’t just turn up yesterday. They know what Test cricket is about and know what preparation they need.”Players who aren’t required for the first Test have been granted an extra week in India and this will include Samit Patel, who has already announced his availability for the auction on February 6, and could also involve Ravi Bopara and possibly Owais Shah if he doesn’t earn a Test recall. As a result, many counties could be without some key players for an early part of the season, but Morris said everyone was getting on board.”We have had very open discussions with county chairmen, they are keen for the best players in the country to go out and perform in IPL with some of the best players in the world.”The list of players included in the auction will be revealed on Friday with the closing date for any additions being February 4.The amount of time England players would be available for the tournament has been a major sticking point between the ECB and BCCI in recent months, but the goodwill earned by England’s return to India for the Test series provided them some breathing space in negotiations.Finalising the IPL availability means central contracts can now be signed both those on 12-month deals with the board. “They have been signed by the players and we are waiting on the IPL to come back with confirmation,” Paul Collingwood told the Press Association.Morris, though, added that there may still be a few small details to iron out over the coming days. “We have been in discussions over last few days. The final detail we will need to get drawn up in next five or so days is just paperwork and it shouldn’t stop the guys going.”He added that he believes it was vital that England players were allowed to go to India. “I think this is a very important decision to protect English cricket, and I think it is in the best interests of English cricket. It will support the central contracts system, the alternative was for England to be the only country that forced its players to choose between playing for country and IPL, and that was a dangerous place to go.”