I’ll walk away with no regrets, says Vaughan

MICHAEL VAUGHAN joked being bowled by his three-year-old son was enough to tell him it as the right time to retire from cricket. The former England captain, 34, yesterday at Edgbaston called time – as expected – on a glittering career that stretched back almost 17 years.

Vaughan pointed to his stewardship of the 2005 Ashes triumph against Australia as the highlight of his time in the sport. But having been overlooked for this summer’s series against Australia he feels the time is right to walk away. Vaughan said: ‘It’s been a hard decision.

‘My decision came two weeks ago at Worcester. I just started to realise there are younger players around that need to be given the chance to move the game forward. I’ve given it my best shot. I wanted to give it one last,hard effort to try to get into the Ashes squad. But I haven’t been playing well enough. ‘And I guess two weeks ago when in the garden with my little lad Archie,he bowled a ball, it hit a weed and it knocked my off stump out of the ground. I think that was the time; if a three-year-old is bowling me out, then it’s time to move over.’

Headded: ‘I’d like to be remembered as someone who gave my all. I don’t think I’ve left anything out there, I have no regrets.’ Current England captain Andrew Strauss said: ‘His achievements can’t be underestimated, the way he took the team forward, the relaxed way he was able to get us playing cricket.’

Flintoff warned there is a time and place to party

ANDREW STRAUSS admits Andrew Flintoff must learn when it is appropriate to hit the booze. But the England captain insists poortime-keeping, rather than alcohol,was to blame for the all-roundermissing Saturday’s team bus to anouting in Belgium.

Flintoff failed to make the start of the organised trip to the graves near Ypres to pay respect to servicemen who fought in World War One, instead getting a taxi to catch up with the rest of the squad. The 31-year-old has since been disciplined by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) but it is not the first time his off-field behaviour has come under the spotlight.

Flintoff lost the vice-captaincy of England’s one-day team after the infamous pedalo incident in St Lucia during the 2007 World Cup. And Strauss said: ‘It’s a punctuality issue. He missed the bus but played a full part in the rest of the day’s activities and seemed fine. ‘We had a team dinner [the previous night] and alcohol wasn’t banned but there’s no reason to suspect anything untoward happening.’

Strauss believes Flintoff is aware of his responsibilities and added: ‘I think it’s something he’s been working very hard on, he generally recognises when the times are to drink and when not to drink. ‘It’s important, career-wise, he stays on the right side of that. ‘The vast majority of the time he has done and as he’s got older he has become more and more aware of when the right times are. ‘Of course there have been incidents with Fred before but for us to start looking back on that would be completely wrong at this stage.

‘Freddie accepts he made a mistake and the appropriate action has been taken and we move forward. ‘Punctuality has been an issue recently with a few players and it’s something we’re trying to iron out.’

Struggling Monty is out of touch and must be axed for Ashes, insists Udal

FORMER England spinner Shaun Udal has warned against selecting Monty Panesar for the first Ashes Test in Cardiff next week, writes Chris Stocks. Off-spinner Panesar will take part in England’s final warm-up match against Warwickshire, which starts tomorrow, despite the fact he has taken just six wickets for Northamptonshire this season at more than 90 runs each. But Middlesex captain Udal, who played four Tests during the winter of 2005-06, said: ‘I don’t think Monty has a role this summer. He isn’t taking wickets and you can’t pick a man who is out of form.

I’m surprised by his lack of development since he broke into the England side. Whoever he was listening to when he was younger was doing a very good job. But I think he has too many people talking to him now. ‘Everyone is trying to change him. It’s time for him to get back to basics.’ Udal was also full of praise for young Australia opener Phil Hughes, who he captained at Middlesex during the early partof this season.

The 20-year-oldleft-hander plundered 574 runs in three championship matches,and Udal said: ‘He has a touchof genius about him. The way heplays, conducts himself. There’s no doubt he will score runsduring the Ashes.’

Don’t write me off, warns Lee

BRETT LEE insists he is far from washed up as he bids to lead Australia’s attack in the forthcoming Ashes series. The 32-year-old paceman is hoping to spearhead the tourists’ bowling against Andrew Strauss’ England when the series gets under way in Cardiff a week tomorrow.

Lee has bounced back after suffering from a spate of injuries, having recently undergone surgery

on foot and ankle problems. But now that Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne have retired, the Aussie selectors may chose to go with their most experienced bowler, who knows all about the pressures of playing in the Ashes.

Nathan Hauritz has been chosen as the only spinner for Ricky Ponting’s team, putting more emphasis than ever on their main strike bowler Mitchell Johnson, and Lee – if he is picked. Critics say his best years are behind him and have pointed to his form during Australia’s ill-fated World Twenty20 campaign as evidence. But Lee, with 310 wickets from 76 Tests, believes he is as deadly as ever.

‘I don’t think the make-up of a fast bowler and a sprinter is that different,’ he said. ‘Of course there will be a time when your pace drops off. ‘Yes I’m 32, but I’ve missed a fair bit of cricket through surgery and I hope the day when my pace drops off is a long way away. The work I’ve been doing is all about bowling fast with good line and length. While I can do that I will do it and I’m certainly not looking at hanging up my boots now.’ Lee claims he has England skipper Strauss in his sights ahead of the first Test next week. Lee has dismissed the Middlesex opener five times over the course of the last two Ashes series and said: ‘I’m happy with the record I have against Straussy.

‘He’s a class act and it doesn’t matter how many times you get him out, on the day all you can do

is prepare well and bowl well. He is a hard batsman to bowl to.’ Lee does admit Australia will have to handle the conditions better than they did during England’s 2005 Ashes triumph if they are to turn the tables this time around. He added: ‘We were caught out a bit in 2005 by the way the ball was swinging back in and we didn’t use that as effectively as England did.’

Paul Collingwood: Sledging won’t bother us

Paul Collingwood has warned australia’s attempts to expose any chinks in England’s sychological armour during the ashes series will prove futile.

The aussies have for years been masters of the art of ‘mental disintegration’ as their former skipper Steve Waugh once described it. Collingwood himself famously came off second-best in a clash with Shane Warne at Sydney in 2007 after deciding to target the spinner during his final Test.

The move backfired spectacularly, though, as Warne helped Australia complete a 5-0 ashes series white wash. officially, the Australians have been ordered by their own board to cut out the sledging during the forthcoming series. But Collingwood is expecting more of the same and insists England’s players will not succumb to their opponents’ famed verbals. ‘Sometimes they can really come hard at you as a team – usually when they sniff a moment where we have to By Ryan Daniels get right on top,’ he said. ‘As a team England can stand up to sledging. If the opportunity comes around, if something needs to be said, then we’ll back each other up. ‘We won’t go looking for it, we just want to perform well.

‘Australia are very good at it. I played a lot of cricket out there as a youngster and they come hard at you. ‘It’s in their culture from a very early age. The youngsters do it. You feel that as a player, as an individual going out to bat in their country. ‘It’s very much a part of their culture but we have some strong characters who can deal with it should it come along.’

Brett Lee is still battling to be part of Australia attack

BRETT LEE remains hopeful he will be selected by Australia for the first Test after a solid showing in the tourists’ opening warm-up match against Sussex.

The 32-year-old paceman has been a key figure in the Aussies’ success over the past decade but his place in the team ahead of the Ashes opener in Cardiff on July 8 is by no means assured. Injuries have seen Lee struggle to recapture his best form during the past 12 months with Mitchell Johnson having taken his mantle as the spearhead of the side’s attack. And with the likes of Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus also making their mark during the successful tour of South Africa earlier this year, Lee admits he could find himself on the sidelines.

However, the right-armer went some way to pressing his claims with four wickets in the drawn tour opener against Sussex. ‘I will be out there playing thehardest and competing the best I can,’ said Lee. ‘If I am doing that, I expect to be playing in that first Test match.’ Despite his good form in Hove, Lee knows he will again have to impress in the final warm-up game against the england Lions at New road, worcester, this week when Johnson is expected to return to the team. ‘I’ve been on both sides of the fence,’ he added. ‘In 2004 in India, I was 12th man for four matches straight. It’s going to be hard work, and I will be trying my hardest to make the team'.

Aussie coach defends the attack

Australian coach Tim Nielsen moved to defend his bowling attack after they struggled to bowl out a weakened Hove (Sussex) on day two of their Ashes tour opener in Hove. The tourists needed more than 80 overs to dismiss the host county and secure a paltry 38- run first-innings lead as Hove (Sussex) posted a dogged 311 all out.

Although Brett Lee and Stuart Clark both grabbed three wickets apiece, young bowler Peter Siddle was their most effective bowler extracting pace and bounce out of a placid pitch on his way to two for 33.

But Ricky Ponting and his perspiring bowlers added to their own workload by conceding 40 extras, including 22 no-balls. More worrying for Nielsen was frontline off-spinner NathanHauritz failing to take a wicket in his 18 overs and leaking 98 runs on a pitch conducive to spin. But Nielsen said: ‘some days if you’re not quite on your game then you’re certainly going to get hurt, our challenge is to work out why it didn’t go quite so well for us today.’

Karachi kid Afridi gets hero’s welcome

Shahid Afridi flew home to a hero’s welcome in Pakistan and promptly dedicated their World Twenty20 triumph to victims of terror in his troubled nation. ‘Throughout the tournament i only thought about winning this for those people who’ve been affected by terrorism in our country,’ said the all-rounder after arriving in Karachi yesterday. ‘The troubled conditions, the way Pakistan is being isolated as a cricket nation, all this spurred the team to win the cup.’ Afridi was man of the match in Pakistan’s semi-final and final wins and was lifted onto the shoulders of fans in recognition of his exploits in the eight-wicket win over Sri Lanka on Sunday at Lord’s.

Rashid’s got all the toys, it’s time to play’

Shane Warne has urged england to be bold and select young leg-spinner Adil Rashid for the opening ashes Test in Cardiff next month. Rashid, 21, has been included in England’s 16-man pre-ashes training squad, alongside fellow spinners Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar, and is also in the England Lions team to face Australia in a four-day game at Worcester starting next Wednesday.

After touring with England in the winter the Yorkshire youngster finally made his international debut in the World Twenty20, impressing in the second spinner’s role alongside Swann, and leg-spin legend Warne, who took 708 Test wickets during a glittering career for Australia, says Rashid has done enough to see off an out-of-form Panesar and take on the same role in the first ashes Test.

He said: ‘England have done well with Rashid. They’ve not rushed him and he is ready now to make that step up. ‘he’s done well in Twenty20 cricket and I believe he is ready to play in the first Test. He’s got all the toys, a good temperament and it’s time for him to play Test cricket.’

Warne, who retired from international duty after Australia’s 5-0 ashes whitewash in 2006-07, will be watching this summer’s series from the commentary box and Australia will be far poorer for his absence with a dearth of fresh spin talent meaning Nathan Hauritz is their only frontline slow bowler on tour. So do England have the advantage when it comes to spin? ‘I’m not sure about that,’ Warne added. ‘The weird thing for me is England could play two spinners in the opening Test and Australia might not play a spinner. That makes me feel pretty strange.’ While Warne praised Rashid he has been less impressed with Ravi Bopara. He laid into the essex batsman last week, claiming he was not Test class even though he scored back-to-back hundreds earlier this summer.

And Warne has renewed his attack, saying: ‘I think Bopara lacks temperament. There will be a lot of banter flying round and I think that will put him off his game. We did that when I was at Hampshire and found him easily distracted. I think he’ll struggle, he won’t get many runs.’

Australia were in transition after the likes of Warne, Glenn McGrath, adam Gilchrist, Matthew hayden and Justin Langer decided to retire but the Victorian senses a recovery. ‘The team has not performed as they would have liked, they lost to India and South Africa. But winning in South Africa was a real confidence booster,’ he added. ‘There’s no doubt there’s been a transition period over the last 18 months. But that period is now over. ‘The team might not have the names in it but they are a good side.’

Tourists optimistic Watson can still make Cardiff date

ALL-ROUNDER Shane Watson has been cleared to stay with Australia after being diagnosed with a minor thigh injury. Scans confirmed a low-grade strain to the 28-year-old’s left quadricep muscle which has forced him out of the tourists’ current game against Sussex at Hove.

With just two weeks to go before the opening Ashes Test in Cardiff, Watson is facing a fight to be fit for the start of the series. But Australia physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said: ‘We expect this injury should resolve itself fairly quickly.

Shane’s return to play will be guided by progress made in the next few days.’ Watson missed training on Monday and Tuesday after complaining of general stiffness, prompting Australian team officials to contemplate calling up a replacement. While Watson will now stay on, his hopes of making the first Test are shrinking – with Marcus North taking his place against Sussex.

Captain Ricky Ponting said: ‘For him it’s obviously a setback. I don’t know if it harmshis chances but there’s an opportunity that’s slipped out of his grasp [not playing at Hove]. ‘Hopefully within a couple of days he’s right to start working on his bowling again.’