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Kevin Pietersen has been ruled out of the Ashes after undergoing surgery on his long-standing Achilles tendon injury. Pietersen was assessed on Wednesday morning by a leading specialist, and the decision was made to undergo surgery which means he will miss up to six weeks.The news comes as a massive blow to England’s morale and momentum after a week in which they finally ended a 75-year jinx in beating Australia at Lord’s, and so went 1-0 up in an Ashes series for the first time since 1997. Pietersen’s contribution to the match was muted, with twin scores of 32 and 44, but it nevertheless took his career tally against Australia to a formidable 1116 runs in 12 Tests, at an average of 50.72.England, however, will now have to make do without that prowess. ECB Chief Medical Officer, Nick Peirce, said: “Following a consultation, involving scans and testing, with the world’s leading Achilles specialist, Kevin Pietersen today underwent surgery on his right Achilles tendon.”The operation involved a small incision and trimming of the blood vessels and nerves around the inflamed tendon and appears, at this early stage, to have been routine. 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.”Despite conventional conservative treatments to the tendon with trial periods of rest and rehabilitation, Kevin continued to be in significant discomfort and is currently unable to run or even walk comfortably. He had a strong desire to get through the Ashes series but despite this he has recently been unable to achieve a maximum level of performance.”A number of short-term measures were considered but having been reviewed by the specialist, who flew into London from Sweden specifically, it was felt that anything else would put the tendon at risk and jeopardise his long-term recovery.”Pietersen said: “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.”Up until now the Achilles injury has been manageable but it recently reached the point where we needed to look at other options in terms of treatment. 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.”I was pleased with the previous course of treatment as it allowed me to take part in this Ashes series but unfortunately the injury has recently deteriorated. To leave a winning dressing room at this time is heart breaking but it wouldn’t be fair to the team or myself to continue given the severity of the injury. I’ll be supporting the team closely and wish them the best of luck as they look to build on the brilliant win at Lord’s and reclaim the Ashes.”In Pietersen’s absence, England are likely to offer a recall to Ian Bell, who was dropped in February after a run of low scores, but who has been in fine form for Warwickshire this season, with 640 runs at 80.00 before today, when he made 7 against Hampshire at the Rose Bowl.”I am desperate to play,” said Bell. “Having faced the Aussies before I know what to expect from them, and once you have appeared at Test level you want to carry on playing against the best players in the world.”The Australian camp maintained the line of the coach Tim Nielsen, who said on Tuesday he was not concerned by what was happening in England’s squad. Shane Watson, the allrounder, said losing a key player like Pietersen “makes it very difficult”.

Younis Khan has said that he had decided even before the World Cup started that he would retire from Twenty20 cricket if Pakistan won the tournament. He also said his statement about Twenty20 cricket being a fun game was part of his plan to ease the pressure off his players.”It’s not a disaster for Pakistan if we fail to qualify for [the] Super Eight round because this Twenty20 cricket is all about fun, though its an international but it’s all a fun game,” Younis had said at the start of the World Cup. Now, after winning the cup, Younis has revealed that it was part of a well-thought out plan.”It was in my mind before going to the World Cup that if we win it I will retire from Twenty20 cricket,” Younis told the Pakistan television channel Geo. Younis said he was confident about the success of Pakistan’s campaign. “We felt if we played consistently and played seriously we can win it. I was cool and calm and knew if we played well we can win. I had worked a lot during the series against Australia which affected my performance but I think the way we worked hard it paid [off] in the World Cup. Like all my other countrymen I am also proud to win the World Cup. Like in the last World Cup we came very close to winning it, but we could not.”Younis said that he chanced upon the ideal playing combination during the Super Eight games. “When we won last match in the Super Eights I knew which combination we have to play with, lots of players like Misbah, myself, Shoaib Malik and even Fawad Alam did not bat in the last few matches as our team clicked at the right time.”He also said he wanted to give opportunities to youngsters like Shahzaib and Mohammad Aamer so that it would benefit Pakistan in the upcoming Tests and ODIs.

England’s record in major global competitions is less of a millstone, more a long-discarded supermarket trolley at the bottom of the Regent’s Canal. Thirty-four years of hurt stopped them dreaming a long, long time ago, not least in Twenty20 cricket, which may only have been around since 2003, but has been developed at a supersonic pace on the subcontinent in the past 18 months. On the eve of the tournament, Sri Lanka’s captain, Kumar Sangakkara, emitted a barely suppressed scoff when reflecting on the fact that England actually invented the game. Not for the first time, they forgot to register the patent.Nevertheless, a lack of expectation can be liberating. Though Paul Collingwood’s pre-tournament pledge to “surprise a few people” wasn’t exactly Churchillian in its origins, their combination of home advantage and handy momentum should enable them to surpass their feeble efforts in 2007, when Zimbabwe were their only conquests in five attempts. Let it not be forgotten that the last time the world’s leading teams were all gathered in this country, for the Champions Trophy in 2004, England reached the final only to be undone by a memorable West Indian run-chase.The mistakes that England made in 2007 have, on the face of it, been rectified in the interim. Stuart Broad is an older, wiser and better cricketer than the wide-eyed rookie whom Yuvraj Singh slapped for 36 in an over at Durban, while the so-called Twenty20 specialists that sank without trace in that tournament (Darren Maddy, Chris Schofield, Jeremy Snape and James Kirtley) have been superseded by a new breed; men such as Graham Napier whose world-record 16 sixes for Essex against Sussex in 2007 propelled him to the big-time, and James Foster, whose silken glovework, especially when standing up to the stumps, has increased the value of the slow- and medium-paced members of England’s attack.It’s not impossible that England will spring a surprise in this tournament, merely improbable. But even that is an improvement on their prospects in years gone by.StrengthsHome advantage might seem a spurious benefit in a 20-over thrash, but England have at least spent the early part of the summer reminding themselves how to take wickets. Their new-ball attack of Broad and James Anderson are as close to the top of their game as they ever have been, while the confidence in the current squad is best exemplified by the irrepressible Graeme Swann, who fine-tuned his second string by smacking 90 not out from 47 balls against Derbyshire last week.WeaknessesThere’s no Andrew Flintoff – and while his impact is less dramatic than in years gone by, his absence does mean four fewer overs of bat-rattlingly accurate pace, and one less go-to man for those crucial overs at the death. And then, of course, there is the question of focus. Are England really bothered with this tournament, or are their eyes already trained on Cardiff on July 8?(Lack of) X-FactorIn every other format, you would surely have to nominate Kevin Pietersen as England’s king-pin. But as the man himself admitted last week: “I’m not very good at Twenty20, am I?” His highest score in 35 matches (international, domestic and IPL included) is 79, against Zimbabwe in 2007. Younis Khan said on Sunday that 120 balls is actually a very long time to bat. You sense that Pietersen, ever manic at the crease and in a hurry to impose himself, hasn’t yet allowed himself the time to realise this.Key player(s)Regardless of his lack of success (and dodgy Achilles heel permitting), Pietersen is, of course, crucial to England’s fortunes. So too is a man who has taken on board many of his same cocky characteristics, Ravi Bopara. He was England’s stand-out performer at the IPL with a sensational 84 from 59 balls for King’s XI Punjab, and he translated that confidence into back-to-back hundreds in the West Indies Tests last month.T20 form guideSix victories, nine defeats, in 15 matches since 2005, though nothing has ever topped that heady first contest against Australia at the Rose Bowl.Squad: Paul Collingwood (capt), James Anderson, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Andrew Flintoff, James Foster, Robert Key, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Eoin Morgan, Graham Napier, Kevin Pietersen, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, Luke Wright

ScorecardAli Brown scorched 63 as Notts won by six wickets•Getty Images

It is an all too rare phenomenon these days: a county match starting its final day with a result virtually certain and both teams apparently equally poised to win or lose. But it was the Nottinghamshire batsmen who took the initiative during the morning session at Trent Bridge, the home side cruising home by six wickets.That was exactly how Nottinghamshire did it, by calm, confident and professional batting with no sign of nerves. The Western Australian Adam Voges was the man taking the most credit, as he calmly compiled 73 not out by waiting for the bad ball and scoring off it without unnecessary flourish or extravagance. His partner at the finish was Ali Brown (63 not out), the former Surrey power-hitter who has matured into a dependable batsman able to adapt his game to the circumstances. The home crowd may have had their doubts about their team’s chances, especially after their fragile batting last season, but Voges and Brown from the very start played as if there was simply a job of work to be done and they had no doubts in their ability to accomplish it. Even Brown’s six over long-off that ended the match was a cool, calculated hit by a craftsman who had just completed a job of work and could now retire for a cuppa – or perhaps something a little more toxic.Notts began the day on 112 for 3, still needing 149 for victory on a ground not noted for high scoring. In their favour was the fact that they faced a bowling attack sadly lacking in potency for a Division One team. Charl Willoughby was the main threat, but if they could see him off, the rest would not be too difficult. The first two overs were significant, and that was possibly when the match was in essence won and lost. Willoughby took a couple of overs to settle down, Ben Phillips strayed in line, and the batsmen – Voges and his overnight partner Samit Patel – made their intentions immediately clear, adding 16 runs off those 12 fateful deliveries.Willoughby did get his act together and produced a fine delivery that came in and trapped Patel lbw for 35, but that was to be Somerset’s only bright moment of the day, as Brown came in and his whole body language stated that he was the man to complete the job.The bowling at the other end proved a continual problem for Somerset, the bowlers haemorrhaging runs in a steady flow, until Zander de Bruin came on with an economical spell just before lunch. By then Voges had reached his 50 with a smart dab through the slips off the erratic Peter Trego. Somerset had just one chance, when Willoughby returned just before lunch and almost immediately misjudged a none too difficult return catch from Brown, who then had 32. This was the final nail in their coffin. At lunch Notts needed only a further 36 runs, which took them just over 20 minutes of the afternoon session before Brown (50 off 81 balls) sealed the game with his side’s only six of the match.A crowd of a few hundred watched in typical English spirit: doubtful of their team’s ability to do the job to start with, but willing them onwards with enthusiastic clapping for every run with little vocal encouragement until the final stroke of the game, and then they drifted quietly away, but not before the home fans took pleasure in seeing the updated Division One table displayed on their scoreboard with their team on top, the only ones with two victories after three rounds.As for Somerset, they must be seriously worried about their future in this division when their bowling is so weak. They will be hoping to do better when the 40-year-old Andy Caddick returns after a niggling injury.

Uganda and Sierra Leone booked their places in the Under-19 World Cup qualifying tournament later this year after finishing first and second in the Africa Under-19 Championship in Zambia. They will join Afghanistan, Hong Kong and the top two teams from the Americas, East Asia-Pacific and Europe regions in a play-off, from which the top five teams from that tournament will join the ten ICC Full Members and hosts Kenya in the 2010 Under-19 World Cup.Uganda and Sierra Leone met in the final round of matches, and it was Uganda who won a rain-affected game despite being bowled out for 91. Chasing a revised target of 83 in 20 overs, Sierra Leone lost too many wickets too quickly and only managed 35 for 8, Geofrey Nyero returning remarkable figures of 6 for 7.That result meant that Namibia could have overtaken Sierra Leone with an emphatic win over the hugely disappointing Kenyans, but after they had posted 158 for 7, the match was abandoned six overs into Kenya’s reply. The one point Namibia earned was not enough.Hosts Zambia finished fourth thanks to a 63-run win over Tanzania, but again the weather meant the game was decided by Duckworth-Lewis calculations. Zambia made 133 and Tanzania struggled to 42 for 7 before the rain returned.Nigeria showed why they finished bottom without a win as they were dismissed for 68 by Botswana, who went on to amble to a six-wicket win.

               P   W  NR   L   Pts      NRR Uganda         7   6   0   1    12     -0.31Sierra Leone   7   5   0   2    10      1.18Namibia        7   4   1   2     9      0.83Zambia         7   4   0   3     8      0.10Kenya          7   3   1   3     7     -0.22Botswana       7   3   0   4     6     -0.44Tanzania       7   2   0   5     4     -0.43Nigeria        7   0   0   7     0     -1.36

Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, has praised the rookie left-arm fast bowler Wayne Parnell after his four-wicket haul floored Australia at Centurion. In his second one-day international Parnell returned figures of 4 for 25 on his way to the Man-of-the-Match award and Arthur felt it was a performance that justified the selectors’ faith.”I’d heard of him through his school career and I’d watched him at Under-19 level,” Arthur said. “I thought he was very impressive.”Last week Parnell, 19, became the youngest player to be handed a national contract by Cricket South Africa. He led the Under-19 team to the final of the World Cup in Malaysia last year and was fast-tracked to the national team during the one-day portion of the tour of Australia this season.”He came into our squad with minimal domestic experience, and he’s fitted in like a glove,” Arthur said. “He’s responded unbelievably well to what [bowling coach] Vinnie Barnes in particular wants to do with him in terms of his bowling. He’s very vibrant around the group and he’s a very good fielder.”He can bat, although he’s had very little opportunity with the bat, but he can take the game away from the opposition. He’s a general allrounder.”Arthur was also cautious about pushing Parnell early in his career. “I think we’ll handle him like we did JP [Duminy],” he said. “JP travelled with our squad for a year and a half before he actually made his Test debut. He was given all the exposure and all the training and so he was ready when the opportunity arose. We’re going to give him every opportunity to grow, but also not push him too early.”South Africa’s captain Graeme Smith was also excited about what he saw in Parnell. “He’s a young guy with a lot of potential,” Smith said. “He showed that, and we’re excited for him. He deserves all the success he gets but he knows that it’s a long road going forward. Hopefully he can build up to another exciting performance on Thursday.”Parnell was included for the second ODI at Centurion at the expense of the veteran Makhaya Ntini and Smith was excited about the alternative of having a left-arm fast bowler opening the attack. “He and Dale [Steyn] found a nice balance between them and offered a little variety. It’s nice to have a few left-armers coming through in South African cricket – it provides you with a few tactical options.”Parnell was delighted to hear words of praise. “That’s a huge plus,” he said. “But I know I have to work hard. For me, I think I have to commit myself 100%, and also stick to the basics. If you stick to the basics, you’ll be successful more often than not.”

Shane Watson looks like leaving Queensland and crossing the border to New South Wales so he can live with his Sydney-based partner. There was talk of Watson heading south last winter, but this time his desire to move is stronger and his departure would leave another big gap in the Bulls squad.”This is something I have been thinking about for the past year,” Watson told the Courier-Mail. “It is about trying to find out what I want from my personal life and getting that balance right. The move will help me achieve that. I have had a heart to heart with a few people and everyone has been good about it.”If the deal with New South Wales is completed he will be the second home-grown international to leave for personal reasons after Mitchell Johnson moved to Western Australia at the start of the season. Queensland have also lost Martin Love to retirement in another blow to their senior stocks.Watson, who started his first-class career in Tasmania to avoid the long playing queue in Brisbane, said the situation was “difficult” because Queensland had treated him well. “I’m very grateful for the support they have given me since I was very young,” he said. “I have got a lot of mates up here and my family have been great as well.”Over the past season Watson took his biggest Test steps, playing five matches in a row before succumbing to stress fractures in his back. He finished the summer as a specialist batsman and hopes to be bowling again in the Indian Premier League.While Watson’s recovery is on track, Phil Jaques continues to struggle after having back surgery following his early exit from the tour of India last year. Jaques returned to play a couple of games for New South Wales, but missed the final match when the injury became worse.The setback may force Jaques into another operation, which is more bad news in his quest to regain a Test opening spot. His manager Warren Craig told AAP Jaques wanted to get the problem fixed.

With a draw always on the cards on a flat deck, Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lankan captain, said he was pleased with the way his team performed at the National Stadium, barring the minor blip in their second innings in the final session on the final day, when they lost half their side in quick time.”I think we always knew that the way the wicket played it would be tough for a result,” Jayawardene said after the fifth day’s play. “We dominated probably for four days in this Test. I am quite happy that we batted really well upfront and our bowlers bowled their heart out for long periods. So it’s a good effort.”Jayawardene felt bowlers would be an “endangered species” if there were more such tracks at the international level. “The wicket didn’t misbehave at all; as a batsman I don’t think I have complaints. I think even our bowlers also wanted to bat on that wicket. It’s always going to be tough for the bowlers if you want to play for a result,” he said. “I’m quite happy finishing the first Test with a very good result for us and I’m looking forward to the next one.”We knew batting first will be always crucial and we put a lot of pressure on them. We had our opportunities and a couple of chances with Younis [Khan] upfront. If we would have held on to those, probably [the result] would have been different so I am quite happy the way things went.”Pakistan were the team under pressure after Sri Lanka scored 644 for 7, but Younis Khan led their reply with a triple-century, eventually helping them gain a lead. “I thought he batted really well, especially his approach. He played lots of shots and controlled the innings,” Jayawardene said. “He batted with concentration for quite a period of time. It was a brilliant knock and because of him we couldn’t create more opportunities to win the match. He was a bit unfortunate to get out this morning going for that [Lara’s] record. I think Dilhara [Fernando] bowled well to him throughout the match and deserved that wicket.”One Sri Lankan batsman who failed to utilise the conditions was their new opener Tharanga Paranavitana. He bagged a golden duck on his first outing and was run out for 9 in the second. “Tharanga is a very talented cricketer. He probably wasn’t really himself but I am sure after the first game under his belt he will feel much more comfortable going into the second one,” Jayawardene said. “Not many guys on their debuts have batted really well. It was a good experience for him. It’s fine as long as he learns from his mistakes and keeps improving.”

Zaheer Khan and Robin Uthappa have swapped their IPL franchises in a move that will see them return to their domestic home sides. Brijesh Patel, the chief executive of the Bangalore Royal Challengers, the team Uthappa moves to from the Mumbai Indians, said the deal was “being finalised”.This is the second swap in the transfer window, the first seeing Shikhar Dhawan moving from Delhi to Mumbai in exchange for Ashish Nehra.Talks on the deal started on December 22, the day the trading window opened. “In fact the team management was keen on getting Zaheer back when the inaugural IPL season was ending,” a source in the Mumbai team said. “The trading window gave us the opportunity to express our interest.”Bangalore were not initially interested in trading Zaheer but warmed to the idea of Uthappa playing for his home city. Bangalore purchased Zaheer for US$450,000 in last year’s auction while Mumbai paid $850,000 for Uthappa but sources in the Mumbai franchise say no money was involved in this deal.Mumbai’s reasons to pursue Zaheer seem two-fold: Uthappa had a lean run in the tournament’s inaugural edition and is no longer a regular for India, while Zaheer’s stock has risen in the last year. In 2008, Zaheer was one of India’s key performers, ending the year with series-winning performances against Australia and England. Even if his IPL record was below-par – 13 wickets in 11 games at 27 – his current form makes him a better bet than Uthappa. Zaheer has also represented Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy in recent years, and bowled them to victory this season with an eight-wicket haul in the final.Uthappa, who made 320 runs in 14 games in the IPL last year, dropped out of the national reckoning after failing to settle in the middle order in ODIs. But Bangalore will now hope Uthappa carries forward his healthy form during the Ranji Trophy, where he led Karnataka into the quarter-finals and finished with three centuries.Zaheer will fill the void left by Shaun Pollock, who has decided not to return. Mumbai have also covered for Uthappa’s exit by adding Dhawan.Bangalore have also signed on Dillon du Preez, an Eagles and Leicestershire fast bowler, who was named one of South Africa’s five Cricketers of the Year in 2008. du Preez was last season’s leading-wicket taker in South Africa’s first-class competition as he took 55 wickets at 16.90. He also took 12 wickets at a strike-rate of 40.2 in the recently-concluded domestic one-day competition in South Africa.

Amid the news that Allen Stanford’s love affair with cricket is cooling, one aspect has been largely overlooked. Without Stanford’s money and publicity, West Indies cricket faces an increasingly bleak future.It was estimated that Stanford’s investment in the Caribbean was worth around US$130 million over five years. Large sums would go to each island participating in his domestic Stanford 20/20, with even bigger amounts heading to the West Indies Cricket Board. The added value of the legends group providing endless media opportunities was unquantifiable.The WICB’s financial woes are well known, but yesterday Donald Peters, the board’s chief executive, was looking to put a brave face on things.”We have an agreement with Stanford that includes the ECB for the Super Series and one for the regional Twenty20,” he said. “In both cases, we would have stood in a position to earn a huge sum of money. But while the WICB’s revenue streams and projects are budgeted for, we do not depend totally on Stanford, so while we may lose revenue, we will have to make the adjustment.”He [Stanford] has been a major sponsor and it would be good if we get the money down the line, but as an international sporting body our responsibility is to work with as many sponsors we can. So if Stanford can’t continue, we will have to find alternative sponsor from around the globe.”Peters’ bullish rhetoric cannot disguise a much bleaker situation for a board that lurches from one mess to another. Despite almost US$100 million from the World Cup, it is again strapped for cash, and this time in a world when multi-million dollar sponsorship deals are increasingly hard to broker. And this is the same WICB who this season failed to even find a sponsor for its domestic one-day competition, and whose relationship with it one remaining major backer – Digicel – is close to tatters.It is because of the sponsorship row between Digicel and Stanford that preceded the Stanford 20/20 for 20 that the whole edifice might come crashing down around the WICB. The conduct of the board in the affair wasroundly condemned, as it tried to pull the wool over the eyes of two major corporations.By trying to pass off the “Stanford Superstars” as an entity distinct from the Digicel-backed West Indies, they effectively sold the same product twice, and suffered a humiliating defeat at the High Court in London. At the time their legal costs of close to US$1 million seemed a big enough blow. It now appears that the real price is massive.Stanford might still remain involved – he has said he will make an announcement next month – but the great and the good within the WICB will have to do some desperate pleading if that’s to happen. And the legends, sacked by Stanford yesterday, will have to use their influence to persuade him to keep faith in the game, if not those running it.Not for the first time, the biggest losers resulting from the mismanagement of the WICB are the hundreds of thousands of those who play and follow it. If Stanford does take his ball and go home, the future for cricket in the Caribbean will be bleaker than it ever has been.