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Kevin Pietersen could find himself in a race to be fit for England’s Champions Trophy campaign in September, after a London-based orthopaedic surgeon warned that he could need considerably longer than the estimated six weeks to recover from the operation he underwent on his right Achilles tendon on Wednesday.”Kevin Pietersen has a serious problem with his Achilles tendon known as chronic tendinopathy, which hasn’t responded to the usual measures of physiotherapy and injections,” Dr Simon Moyes, who works out of the Wellington Hospital in St John’s Wood, told the Press Association. “Less than five percent of patients end up needing surgery for this condition and therefore he is most unfortunate.”Pietersen was booked in for an operation on Wednesday morning, after struggling throughout England’s historic victory in the second Test, in which they took a 1-0 lead in the Ashes series with their first win over Australia at Lord’s since 1934. He was never comfortable at the crease, nor in the field, although his twin scores of 32 and 44 took his career tally against Australia to a formidable 1116 runs in 12 Tests, at an average of 50.72.In a statement, the ECB’s Chief Medical Officer, Nick Peirce, said that Pietersen had been operated on by a leading surgeon who had been specially flown in from Sweden, and that the early signs were that the operation had been routine.”The operation involved a small incision and trimming of the blood vessels and nerves around the inflamed tendon,” said Peirce. “Kevin will look to undertake a comprehensive rehabilitation programme to ensure there is no risk of recurrence. This is expected to be approximately six weeks but will be taken at an appropriate pace following constant review.”Moyes, however, warned that there was no guaranteeing a quick fix to Achilles injuries, and said that Pietersen and England might have to be patient in his recovery period. “The surgery to the tendon is not always predictable and involves cleaning inflammatory tissue, necrotic tissue and neovascular tissue – i.e. new blood vessels,” he said. “I believe it will be at minimum of three months before he is fully recovered. Even then there is still a risk that the surgery may not work.””As an England cricketer the Ashes are the pinnacle of the game so I’m absolutely devastated to be missing the rest of this series,” said Pietersen. “I hate missing matches for England and especially during an Ashes summer but now that the decision has been made to undergo surgery I’m confident I can return to the England team injury-free following a course of rehabilitation.”

Shoaib Akhtar will not be considered for the upcoming ODI series against Sri Lanka, because of the uncertainty surrounding his match fitness, Wasim Bari, the PCB director for human resources and administration, has said. “Without knowing his match fitness how can we select him for the series,” Bari was quoted as saying to . “Until he does not play a few matches we cannot be sure of his match fitness.”However, Shoaib still stands a chance of being selected for the squad for the Champions Trophy to be held in South Africa later in the year. The PCB is to finalise its preliminary list of 30 players for the tournament by July 23. “If he [Shoaib] is in the 30, his fitness can be assessed later on,” Bari said.Shoaib missed last month’s World Twenty20 due to a skin infection, and last represented Pakistan in the five-match ODI series against Australia two months ago. Last week, he insisted he was back at full fitness, and claimed that he had “three to four good years left in him”.Shoaib, 33, has not been a regular member of the Pakistan side of late due to disciplinary issues as well as injuries. He was involved in a tussle with the PCB after reportedly criticising the board publicly for not awarding him a central contract. Subsequently, upon his return to international cricket, he was dropped after a poor ODI series against Sri Lanka and again under-performed against Australia, taking three wickets with an average of over 50.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRicky Ponting produced a chanceless hundred as Australia set themselves for a huge first innings•Getty Images

Australia’s bowling has lost its aura in recent times, but the batting order remains a powerful line-up led by one of the greatest to play the game. Ricky Ponting continued his prolific Ashes record with his 38th Test century, passing 11,000 runs in the process, while Simon Katich continued his rebirth as an opener with his first ton against England to lead Australia to an impressive 249 for 1 in reply to the home side’s 435 on the second day in Cardiff.If it was honours even at the end of the opening exchanges, it is now Australia who hold the advantage and will have designs on batting well past England’s total to remove the danger of batting last. It was quite a turnaround for the tourists, who were given the run-around during the first session with England adding 99 in 16.5 overs of sparkling batting from the lower order, in particular Graeme Swann.However, Australia’s progress from the moment Ponting and Katich joined forces was methodical, attritional and thoroughly professional as they added 189. It was a lesson to England’s batsmen who, despite collectively managing a very respectable total, individually wasted numerous starts. The pitch held few demons for batsmen who were set, which highlighted the value of Australia’s two top-order players building on their foundations.Katich could have departed for 10 when Andrew Flintoff, in the middle of a hostile spell that accounted for Phillip Hughes, couldn’t hold a low return chance but Ponting didn’t offer a chance in his 155-ball hundred that arrived off the penultimate ball of the day. Katich had brought up his own century moments earlier from 214 balls when he pulled Flintoff to fine leg. He is far removed from the batsman who was bemused by reverse swing in 2005 and it’s one of cricket’s great comeback stories.Ponting already has a record that stands up with the legends and became the fourth batsman to pass 11,000 Test runs when he moved to 41, joining Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Allan Border with enough time in his career to finish top of the pile. His hundred also gave him centuries in four Ashes series in England, alongside Don Bradman and Steve Waugh.

And he’ll have his mind set on doubling this innings before he’s finished on a surface that may yet make the fourth innings a testing proposition. There was turn for Swann and Monty Panesar, especially from the footmarks, but it was slow and the batsmen had time to adjust. Katich often waited on the back foot to clip Panesar with the spin through the leg side, while Ponting cashed in whenever Swann over pitched. Swann sent down six maidens in his first 11 overs, ripped a couple past Katich’s outside edge and could have had him leg before on 56, but when he started to force the issue there were more loose deliveries to be picked off.Andrew Strauss tried various combinations, but found it difficult to build pressure as the batsmen found release through well-run singles and deft placement. James Anderson wasn’t at his best while Stuart Broad was forced to leave the field for some treatment on his calf during the final session. As Ravi Bopara found yesterday success against a poor West Indies team needs to be put into context.It was no surprise that the most hostile pace force was Flintoff, playing his first Test since Antigua in February, and as with his brief innings his first spell rekindled memories of Ashes contests past. He’d been held back from the attack during the half hour Australia batted before lunch and Hughes raced into his innings with a series of crisp off-side boundaries.There was a plan to target Hughes with the short ball, but both Anderson and Broad offered too much width and allowed Hughes to free his arms. After the interval, though, the challenge went up a few levels as Flintoff was immediately thrown the ball. He began with three rapid bouncers to Hughes from around the wicket, probing the middle-and-leg line that Steve Harmison utilised for England Lions, throwing in a few verbals for good measure, then beat the left-hander with one that cut away off the seam.It was a marvellous duel between a seasoned campaigner and a young, cocky batsman with Flintoff coming out on top. Switching to over the wicket he cramped Hughes for room as he tried another cut and Matt Prior held a sharp, low chance to his right as Flintoff stood in the middle of the pitch, arms aloft in celebration but it proved England’s only moment of joy.Australia began the day hoping to restrict England to well below 400 and that looked on the cards when Mitchell Johnson removed Broad with the aid of some thigh pad. However, Swann was immediately at his busy, cheeky best and the fifty stand with Anderson came up off 38 balls.The introduction of Nathan Hauritz brought even greater acceleration as Swann immediately made a statement against his fellow offspinner. He lofted him over wide mid-on then slammed him straight down the ground for another boundary as Peter Siddle lost sight of the ball on the rope. The best of the lot, however, was his impish reverse sweep to complete an over that left the crowd in raptures. By the close, though, the English fans were more subdued and it was the Australians waving their flags.

The PCB will sit down with the ICC and World Cup hosts India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, in Dubai on June 3 to try and reach an out-of-court settlement over the 2011 World Cup dispute that saw Pakistan’s share of matches taken away over security concerns. Since the decision in April – taken after the terrorist attacks on Sri Lanka in Lahore in March – Pakistan and the ICC have been locked in a legal wrangle; the PCB filed a notice over the decision, calling it discriminatory and illegal and arguing that the correct procedures had not been followed. The meeting is the first indication of any kind that the impasse may be resolved outside of a courtroom.The meeting will be attended by ICC president David Morgan, Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, and top officials from the BCCI, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). Sharad Pawar, the former BCCI president and Morgan’s chosen successor, will also be part of the meeting.It appears to be the result of Butt’s recent trips to Sri Lanka and India, where he met DS de Silva, the SLC chairman, and Pawar to drum up support and discuss Pakistan’s case. After the spate of legal action – which included filing a case in a Lahore civil court against the removal of the World Cup secretariat from Lahore to Mumbai and also referring the entire matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sports – relations between the PCB and the ICC, as well as other members, had worsened considerably. Butt’s visits were seen also as diplomatic missions to improve communications between PCB and the remaining hosts of the world cup.”I had very detailed discussions with Mr Pawar and the meeting went well,” Butt told Cricinfo. “We decided some solution has to be worked out and we will have a discussion in Dubai on June 3. David Morgan, Mr Pawar and the heads of SLC and BCB will all be there as we discuss the situation and work towards a solution.”Since the legal notice, the ICC has vigorously refuted Pakistan’s claims point by point but also clarified, crucially, that Pakistan’s hosting rights to the tournament had not been taken away. For an embattled board, it was a victory of sorts, leaving the option open apparently for a neutral venue to come into play.”We sent them a legal notice and they replied,” Butt said. “And they acknowledged that our hosting rights cannot be taken from us. These are contractual commitments that are strong even if we agree that there might be different interpretations there.”As the PCB has moved forward with its two-pronged strategy of legal action on one hand and back-channel communication on the other, little has emerged about what Pakistan actually wants from their actions. No country is willing to visit Pakistan after the terrorist attacks on the Sri Lankan team in March in Lahore, a feeling made clear at the ICC meeting in April when the decision was originally made. Speculation suggested Pakistan wanted either financial compensation or a move to ‘host’ its share of matches at a neutral venue.Butt confirmed that the neutral venues option was in the pipeline but would come up only after the correct process had been followed. This will be top of the agenda at the Dubai meeting. “First our hosting rights cannot be taken away just like that, that we have to clear. There are four full-member countries who are hosts and all signed this one agreement with the IDI. There are terms and conditions in there.”We will, as per the agreement we have all signed, submit a satisfactory security plan to the ICC for games in Pakistan. Should that plan not be satisfactory then we will put forward a proposal for a neutral venue, be that in the Middle East or Kuala Lumpur. That process and procedure is part of the hosting agreement that we all signed.”Whether or not the co-hosts are keen on a neutral venue, in particular Dubai and Abu Dhabi, is not clear yet. The ICC has not entirely ruled out the option. “The ICC has never received any proposals from the PCB on alternate venues so we cannot speculate on how the ICC Board would deal with any requests,” an ICC spokesperson told Cricinfo recently.According to sources within the BCCI, however, the idea may not be so popular. Butt discussed with Pawar the financial importance of Pakistan hosting matches in Dubai as a cash-strapped board can ill-afford to lose 14 World Cup matches, the sources told Cricinfo. The host for each World Cup match receives US$750,000 from the ICC for the “extra work”, 100% of gate receipts and 100% of money raised through hospitality.Pawar, however, conveyed to Butt during their lunchtime meeting on Sunday that the BCCI was not keen on Dubai as a neutral option, and reiterated the Indian and ICC stance that the 2011 World Cup is a subcontinent event, and should stay as one.

West Indies fast bowler Jerome Taylor, who passed a fitness test before flying out to join his team-mates in England earlier this week, has said he is looking forward to another hard-fought Test series.”Everything went well and I’m feeling all right. It’s a matter of getting back in the groove and doing the job,” the quoted Taylor as saying after a three-hour training session in preparation for a four-day game against England Lions starting Friday.It was Taylor’s five-wicket haul in the first Test in Jamaica two months ago that proved decisive in West Indies regaining the Wisden Trophy after nine years. However, he sustained an injury in a vehicle accident which forced him out of the IPL.”It is always a pleasure to be among the boys (West Indies team),” he said. “I missed being among the boys when I was not playing, so I’m happy to be back. We all get along well together and we have a good team spirit.”The first Test of the series is at Lord’s and starts next Wednesday.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outSouth Africa were saved by the brutal contribution of Roelof van der Merwe in the twilight overs•AFP

The South Africans continue to dominate the limited-overs formats. Having usurped Australia for top place in the 50-over rankings last year, South Africa now head to the World Twenty20 brimming with confidence after a second consecutive 20-over victory over Ricky Ponting’s men, this time by 17 runs.The Australians seldom appeared comfortable in pursuit of South Africa’s 156 for 5 on a pitch that troubled batsmen from both sides of the Indian Ocean. Michael Clarke (27 runs from 33 balls) struggled to combat South Africa’s disciplined lines, while Ricky Ponting was dismissed for a solitary run for the second time in three days; this time to a well-angled delivery from debutant paceman Yusuf Abdulla.Hardly an ideal start. But the fatal sequence for Australia was saved for the eleventh over, delivered by the ever-effective Johan Botha, who must surely rank among the world’s finest Twenty20 bowlers at present. Clarke was bowled attempting to sweep the first ball of the South African captain’s second over, and Callum Ferguson – following a dreadful mix-up with David Hussey – was run out the next delivery, in a carbon copy of Michael Hussey’s dismissal on Friday.Thereafter, the tourists were never in the hunt. Roelef van der Merwe, who previously blasted 48 from 30 deliveries to provide impetus to the South African innings, claimed the vital wicket of Hussey to end the Australian charge. And when Johann Louw removed James Hopes and Nathan Bracken in the final over of the innings, the Australians found themselves marooned at 139 for 8 and facing a comprehensive tactical and selection overhaul ahead of the World Twenty20 in June.The South Africans, conversely, are in rude health in both 50 and 20-over cricket. Despite fielding an experimental XI with four changes from Friday’s comprehensive four-wicket victory at the Wanderers, the hosts encountered few problems in sealing victory after van der Merwe’s violent innings.Like several of his top-order counterparts, not least JP Duminy, van der Merwe was effectively handcuffed by the Australians for the majority of the evening. With eyes wide, head skywards and bat thrashing to all points of the compass, the right-hander whiffed and edged his way to 15 from his first 17 deliveries before eventually finding his range.Nathan Bracken was first to suffer at the hands of van der Merwe, watching forlornly as his third over – the 16th of the innings – disappeared for 23 runs. Ben Laughlin also felt the brunt of van der Merwe’s fearsome swinging, conceding 12 runs from the ensuing over. It might not have been pretty – several of his sixes disappeared over the point fence when, in fact, van der Merwe had looked to play over midwicket – but the sheer ferocity of his strokeplay turned mis-hits into sixes, and drove his side towards a respectable total.His outing was by far the brightest of the South African innings. In all, the Australian bowlers combined for 50 dot-balls as placement was all but overlooked in the quest for power; a facet of the South African game that Mickey Arthur will no doubt seek to address in the weeks and months to come. But with Australia’s top-order struggling to find its feet at Twenty20 level, the hosts’ total would always prove challenging. And with Botha at the height of his spin-bowling powers, it eventually proved impossible.

There are few surprises in South Africa’s provisional 30-man squad for the ICC World Twenty20 in June this summer. The bulk of the squad includes those that featured in the inaugural edition at home in 2007, as well as rising stars like Roelof van der Merwe and Wayne Parnell and players to have excelled in the domestic Standard Bank Pro20.The final squad of 15 to 16 players will be announced before the tournament begins on June 5. The IPL assumes significance because it ends on May 24, leaving little time for a camp before the players leave for England.van der Merwe top-scored with 48 and took the wicket of David Hussey with his left-arm spin to set up South Africa’s 17-run win in a Twenty20 international recently and bagged the Man-of-the-Match award. Parnell, the left-arm fast bowler, was fast-tracked to the national team during the one-day portion of the tour of Australia this season. He took four wickets in just his second ODI at Centurion over the weekend and was named Man of the Match.The likes of Yusuf Abdulla, CJD de Villiers and Robin Peterson have performed well on the domestic circuit. de Villiers was the second highest wicket-taker in the domestic Pro20 with 14 at 14.64, and Abdulla had 10 at 17.10. Abdulla has played 26 Twenty20 matches, and his economy rate of 5.83 ranks among the best in the world. He made an impressive Twenty20 debut against Australia last week and was subsequently drafted into the IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab based on his success in the Twenty20 format and his experience of conditions in Durban.Peterson and Alviro Petersen – both of whom have represented South Africa – featured at the top of the run tally in the domestic Pro20. However, the top scorer in the tournament, Morne van Wyk, has been overlooked.There are five other international hopefuls – Henry Davids, Friedel de Wet, Arno Jacobs, Heino Kuhn and Daryn Smit. Graeme Smith will lead the side with Johan Botha as his deputy.South Africa squad:
Graeme Smith (capt), Yusuf Abdulla, Hashim Amla, Gulam Bodi, Loots Bosman, Johan Botha, Mark Boucher (wk), Henry Davids, AB de Villiers, CJ de Villiers, Friedel de Wet, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Arno Jacobs, Jacques Kallis, Heino Kuhn, Johann Louw, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Makhaya Ntini, Justin Ontong, Wayne Parnell, Alviro Peterson, Robin Peterson, Ashwell Prince, Daryn Smit, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Roelof van der Merwe, Vaughn van Jaarsveld.

Nadeem Shahid, the former Surrey batsman and Second XI coach, has parted ways with the club after 15 years of involvement at The Oval.Shahid, 39, played 82 times for Surrey and was part of a squad which won nine trophies in the 1990s. After retiring in 2004 he went into coaching, overseeing the Second XI from 2006 until earlier this year.”I have thoroughly enjoyed my career at Surrey and it was an incredibly difficult decision to leave”, Shahid said. “However, an opportunity I have recently received to run a multi-sports academy in South Africa is one I can’t turn down.”Surrey’s new managing director of cricket, Gus Mackay, added: “Nadeem Shahid has served this club honourably, both as a player and a coach. I fully understand and support his desire to develop his career and wish him every success for the future.”Shahid stroked nine centuries and more than 6000 runs in his career, with a top score of 150 for Surrey against Sussex in 2002.

Shane Watson will play as a batsman for Queensland in his return to high-level action after another bout of back stress fractures. The Bulls will be hopeful of a big contribution from Watson against New South Wales at the Gabba, starting on Thursday, as they attempt to jump from third place.There are two rounds remaining in the Sheffield Shield and Queensland are two points behind Tasmania in the race to join Victoria in the final at the Junction Oval next month. Watson was on target for more Test action in December when he was diagnosed with the injury and will delay bowling until the end of the local season.He has been having sessions at the Centre of Excellence under Greg Chappell, the head coach, to improve his shot-making. “I have been working with Greg on simplifying my technique over the last two weeks to ensure there is no inhibition on my game,” Watson said in the Courier-Mail.”I’m feeling great – I am looking forward to getting out in the middle. I won’t be bowling until after the season finishes. The Ashes are the big goal.”Ben Laughlin, the medium-fast bowler, has also been recalled for what is Martin Love’s final first-class appearance at the Gabba. Laughlin was part of Queensland’s one-day final win over Victoria on Sunday.The match will be Andrew Symonds’ 100th first-class contest for Queensland. “I’ve had a lot of fun and enjoyed a bit of success in what has been a golden era for the game in Queensland, and I reckon we’ve got the makings of another good run after seeing the way the young blokes went in winning the title on the weekend,” Symonds said. “People probably wrote them off at the start of the season so I’m really pleased to see them enjoying themselves and giving it a shake.”Symonds has had a poor season with the bat, scoring 118 runs in five Sheffield Shield fixtures, but said he was “reasonably happy”. “I’m really looking forward to these next two games because there’s still a bit of life in the season for us. The confidence is bubbling along nicely in the group and we’ll see whether we can enjoy a bit more success and have a bit more fun this summer.”Mitchell Starc, the left-arm fast bowler, has come into the New South Wales squad for Aaron Bird, who has been suspended for an illegal action. Starc holds a rookie contract with the Blues and was due to fly to Brisbane on Wednesday.New South Wales have rejected the chance to give David Warner, the Australia limited-overs international, a first-class debut due to his unimpressive club and second XI form. The fifth-placed Blues are unchanged despite an innings defeat to Victoria last week and must win their final two games to have a chance of reaching the final.Queensland squad Chris Simpson (capt), Ryan Broad, Lee Carseldine, Ben Cutting, Chris Hartley (wk), James Hopes, Nick Kruger, Ben Laughlin, Martin Love, Chris Swan, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson.New South Wales squad Dominic Thornely (capt), Beau Casson, Burt Cockley, Peter Forrest, Moises Henriques, Phil Jaques, Usman Khawaja, Grant Lambert, Greg Mail, Ben Rohrer, Daniel Smith (wk), Mitchell Starc.

Finally, Cricket Australia has got serious with Andrew Symonds, but it might be too late for the national set-up to benefit. By the time Symonds is eligible for international selection again the Indian Premier League will be about to start and he will have the choice of US$1.35 million for six weeks of Twenty20 or play for an organisation that has officially tired of him.Symonds has a conviction sheet as long as his dreadlocks, but with him out of form and fitness – and barely in control – the Cricket Australia board, following a recommendation from the chief executive James Sutherland, told him he was not in the Test squad for South Africa. The senior players were the ones who started the push for him to be sent home following last year’s Darwin adventure and while he was left out of the subsequent India Test series, the flimsiness of the ruling was shown when he was brought back as soon as the team returned. Nothing had changed.Since the season started he has struggled for runs and been in more trouble, first with an over-eager fan in a Brisbane hotel and then during his Brendon McCullum “lump of s…” interview. A fine for the radio comments was the final slap in a path of punishments that winds back to his night out in Cardiff before the Bangladesh defeat in 2005. Despite the most recent regressions, Sutherland said after the South Africa judgment that Symonds was “making good progress” with his rehabilitation, which indicates the potential for the decision makers to soften again.In a rare diversion from what it is usually considered important, Symonds’ increased counselling programme will have priority over his Australian and Queensland commitments. Presumably he will be able to arrange his sessions away from match and training times, but it will limit his off-field promotions, something he has been pushing for since asking for a pay cut during his contract negotiations last year. Even when he loses, Symonds manages some wins.However, at 33, he might feel it’s too much hassle to follow all the self-help sheets while answering hours of open-ended questions. His long-term mate Matthew Hayden has gone and a newer breed of players seem less enamoured with his distracting indiscretions.Ricky Ponting, one of Symonds’ main promoters, speaks of the allrounder as a great player. A great friend might be a better description of someone Ponting can rely on during a match. What is more important at the moment, as the slumping Australian team seeks leadership and long-term examples, is that they have players the whole set-up can rely on. Symonds is not one of those men, no matter what his counsellors say.