A round-up of today's other sports news in brief
England hopeful Flintoff will be fit for Lord's Test
CRICKET:England are optimistic Andrew Flintoff will be fit for the second Ashes Test which starts at Lord's tomorrow following the all-rounder's latest injury scare.
Flintoff (31), suffered pain and swelling in his right knee, which required an operation this year to repair a torn meniscus, after the drawn first Test in Cardiff on Sunday. He missed the two home Tests against West Indies.
“He saw the surgeon that operated on his knee,” head coach Andy Flower told journalists yesterday.
“His surgeon was quite optimistic about him playing in this game. He won’t bowl today, but he will have a bat and he will have a bowl tomorrow. We’ll assess it tomorrow and make a decision then.”
Johnson says Wilkinson might have his best years ahead of him
RUGBY:Martin Johnson has justified his decision to select Jonny Wilkinson for England's elite squad by claiming the injury-plagued outhalf can return from his latest setback better than ever before.
Wilkinson (30), was last week included as one of only two outhalves in Johnson’s 32-man squad, despite not having played for 10 months after dislocating a knee-cap.
But Johnson made no apologies for including Wilkinson, who has returned to full training with his new club Toulon.
“How do I justify picking Jonny Wilkinson? Seventy caps, two World Cup finals and X amount of points (1,032 in total) – the sort of player you are going to favour slightly! He is a world-class player when he’s fit,” said Johnson.
“I think he can be as good as he ever was. Experience is a big part of being a good player and he’s only 30, so potentially he could be at his peak because of his experience and what he’s been through on and off the field.”
Winning start for U-19s in qualifying
CRICKET:The Ireland Under-19 side came back strongly from a terrible start to seal a comfortable, seven-wicket victory over the Netherlands in their opening game of the European World Cup Qualifier in Jersey yesterday, writes Emmet Riordan.
Having won the toss and inserted the Dutch, they were forced to chase leather in the opening 10 overs as Alexei Kervezee and Stijn Allema hit Ireland’s attack for 80 runs at the FB Fields in St Helier.
Shane Getkate, whose first three overs went for 26, came back in some style with four wickets for 13 in five overs as the Dutch collapsed to 169 all out with 61 balls left.
A fine 65 from Eglinton’s Stuart Thompson and an undefeated 46 from James Shannon saw Ireland over the line in the 38th over.
Springboks stick with winning side
RUGBY:South Africa kept faith in the squad which beat the Lions when they announced a 23-man squad to play New Zealand in their Tri-Nations opener in Bloemfontein on July 25th.
All but one player in the squad named yesterday were involved in the 2-1 series win over the Lions.
The only new addition being the inclusion of tighthead prop Jannie du Plessis in place of Deon Carstens.
SOUTH AFRICA (Tri-Nations squad):Forwards: A Bekker, B Botha, H Brussow, B du Plessis, J du Plessis, R Kankowski, V Matfield, T Mtawarira, C Ralepelle, D Rossouw, J Smit, J Smith, P Spies. Backs: J de Villiers, F du Preez, J Fourie, B Habana, A Jacobs, R Januarie, R Pienaar, JP Pietersen, F Steyn, M Steyn.
