Sidebottom out, Flintoff returns

PORT OF SPAIN – Ryan Sidebottom will miss England’s limited-overs matches on their tour of the West Indies due to an Achilles tendon injury.

The England & Wales Cricket Board announced on Monday that Amjad Khan will replace the left-arm fast-medium bowler in the squad for a Twenty20 International and five One-day Internationals.
‘Ryan’s had problems with his Achilles for a little while now and we feel as though its best served for him to go back and get some intensive treatment,’ the ECB’s Director of Cricket Hugh Morris told reporters.
‘Obviously, we’re disappointed he won’t be available for the ODI series along with Graeme Swann, but with the amount of cricket we have coming up in England, we will feel he needs to go back and get treatment with a view to him being ready for the summer.’
Swann has also been ruled out of the limited-overs match to undergo surgery on his right elbow.
But England will be thrilled to welcome Andrew Flintoff back to the tour on Tuesday as scheduled, following his recuperation from a hip injury.
Flintoff flew home from the tour two Fridays ago to nurse a muscle strain in his right hip which he sustained in the drawn third Test at the Antigua Recreation Ground.
‘Our medical team has been pleased with his progress,’ Morris said.
‘He has been under the leadership of our chief medical officer Nick Pierce, and Nick is pleased with the way he has been going.
‘He will continue his treatment over here with a view, hopefully, to playing some part in the limited-overs series.’
The limited-overs part of the England tour begins with a Twenty20 International at Queen’s Park Oval on Sunday here.
This will be followed by the first two One-day Internationals on March 20 and 22 at the Guyana National Stadium, the third and fourth ODIs on March 27 and 29 at Kensington Oval in Barbados, and the final ODI on April 3 at the Beausejour Cricket Ground in St. Lucia.
– Nampa-AFP