Warne, McGrath, Hayden to play in All Star T20 game

Legends Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Matthew Hayden will return to the field to launch the 2009-10 season in an All Star Twenty20 match at the Gabba in Brisbane, Cricket Australia and the Australia Cricketers' Association announced on Wednesday.

The trio will line-up against a full-strength Australian XI on November 22 before the hosts take on the West Indies and Pakistan at home.

The CA released its ticketing schedule for the 2009-10 international season on Tuesday and the All Star match boasts family friendly ticket prices starting at $20 for adults and $10 for kids.

"I can't wait to be playing back on Australian soil with Pigeon and Haydos and the rest of the crew," Warne said.

"As the All Stars captain I'm really looking forward to working with Australia's new and upcoming players. It will be a great experience to take on the Aussie team and should be a very fun and exciting match for all," he said.

For McGrath, the chance to play with some of the most exciting players in Australia and raise awareness for charity at the same time was too good a chance to pass up.
"The All Star match is a great start to the summer and I'm really looking forward to getting back out on Aussie soil. The match is going to support the Cricket Cares initiative so I encourage all cricket fans to get on board and come along to the match, or watch it on TV," McGrath said.

The All Star Twenty20 match will support Cricket Cares partners The Shane Warne Foundation, McGrath Foundation and Movember Foundation.

After his success in this year's IPL, Hayden is looking forward to stepping foot once again on his beloved Gabba.

"I have really enjoyed my Twenty20 post retirement, and this is a great way to play a game I love in my home town. This match is the perfect way to launch the summer and a great way for me to support the ACA," he said.

Flintoff sleeping with an ice machine to stay fit for the Ashes

England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has been sleeping with an ice machine in an attempt to stay fit and help his side win back the Ashes.

According to former fast bowler and now Telegraph cricket correspondent Derek Pringle, Flintoff is seen as an inspirational figure in the England camp, and every effort is being made to keep him fit and running in spite of his pain.

"I have this machine that I put on the knee every night. It gets in the way a little bit. It wraps around my knee and compresses it, half-an-hour on, half-an-hour off, throughout the night," Flintoff said Tuesday. It is not the first time England have used a machine to try to put one over the Australians. In 2005, their use of the Merlin bowling machine was cited as a major factor in combating Shane Warne, though with the wrist-spinner taking 40 wickets in the series its success was relative.

In England's practice on Tuesday, Flintoff undertook a 10-minute trundle at a stump followed by a short net in which he sent down 11 balls.

According to Pringle, reading Flintoff's body language is never easy.

"He looked pensive, especially when sitting down to put his pads on (which he did twice) then, later, while lacing up his bowling boots. Earlier, he spent 10 minutes chatting with Steve Bull, the team psychologist, though this might have been about the weather rather than his personal expectations for this match," says Pringle in his report.

Flintoff is not the only one with fitness.

cloud hanging over him after Ian Bell twisted his right ankle playing football on Monday.

Kevin Pietersen's absence will add more pressure on Flintoff: Ponting

Australian skipper Ricky Ponting feels England's star batsman Kevin Pietersen's absence will add more pressure on the Lord's Test hero Andrew Flintoff.

Ponting believes his team had Pietersen's measure during the first two Tests of the ongoing Ashes series but wonders how England will cope without their batting star now he has been ruled out of the series following Achilles tendon surgery.

'If you look at the way we've bowled to him and the way he's played, he's been one of the England batsmen we've been able to put the most pressure on,' Ponting was quoted as saying in Daily Telegraph. 'Ben Hilfenhaus, in particular, has bowled beautifully to him.'

'But he is a massive loss. He's such an X-factor in their side, the way he can score quickly and the ability he has to put the bowlers on the backfoot by putting extra pressure on them.

'I think Pietersen does leave a pretty big hole in their batting. For us, it will be a real positive. It probably puts a bit more pressure back on Flintoff to perform. He has to stand up big time now,' he said.

Ponting also wonders how the inconsistent Ian Bell will feel trying to fill Pietersen's enormous shoes.

'Now England have a much more sound, technically correct, but scratchy player like Bell, if we happen to get him in at the right time he's a pretty nervous sort of bloke as well,' Ponting said.