Flintoff named in CSK squad Chennai: Andrew Flintoff has been named in Chennai Super Kings squad for the 2010 Champions League even as the Enlgand all-rounder is slowly making a complete recovery from his knee injury. Flintoff is currently looking towards playing for Lancashire as a batsman and said that he will not start bowling untill next month. Its been a long road with the rehab since then but Im hoping to play again in the next few weeks, Flintoff told Sky Sports News. Im back in the nets at Lancashire and from nowhere Ive found the ability to bat again which is encouraging,Im hitting the ball. Im going to have to play in second team first and force my way back into the first team but with the way Im batting,Im hoping to do that with the bat initially and then pick up the bowling from there. Amla wins SA award Johannesburg: Hashim Amla was the star of Cricket South Africas annual awards night,clinching the Cricket of the Year honour along with four other trophies,including a special one for a knock against India. Amla was also named Test Cricketer of the Year, South African players Player of the Year and CSA fans Cricketer of the Year awards. Amlas fifth trophy was a sponsored So Good Award in recognition of his match-winning knock of 253 not out in the first Test against India in Nagpur last year. AB de Villiers was named ODI Cricketer of the Year and Charl Langeveldt received the International Pro20 Cricketer of the Year award. The Newcomer of the Year Award went to Ryan McLaren. Ryder to miss Lanka tri-series Wellington: New Zealand opening batsman Jesse Ryder will miss the tour of Sri Lanka next month with an elbow injury. Ryder returned after a groin injury to be part of World T20 to sustain torn ligaments in his elbow and scored a mere 93 runs and has failed to recover in time for the tr-series also featuring India. Due to the compressed nature of the tour and his speed of recovery so far we feel we have insufficient time to get Jesse fully fit and able to take part in any of the one-day matches, the coach and selector Mark Greatbatch said. Therefore we have made the decision to keep Jesse in New Zealand where he will continue his rehabilitation from the elbow injury and return to playing as soon as possible. Raman named Bengal coach Chennai: Former Test batsman W V Raman will be coach of the Bengal team from September this year after a four-year stint as mentor of Tamil Nadu. Raman,who had coached Bengal in 2001 said he felt the need to take up different challenges,now that the Tamil nadu side is well set. After four years,a time comes to decide whether you need to continue or not. That is what it is,he said. Raman said Bengal again approached him and he thought he would give it a shot. And this is the time to move in and do something about it,facing new challenges, he said. Too hot to handle Michelle Wie suffered heatstroke during the pro-am of the Evian Masters in France but should be able to play in the tournament starting on Thursday. Organizers said on Wednesday that Wie went to see a doctor. Press officer Olivia Payerne said: This is nothing serious,just a heatstroke. She will start tomorrow as expected. Top-ranked Ai Miyazato of Japan will defend the title . Wie tied for 23rd last year. Choking earns ban Paraguay footballer Jose Pedroso has been handed a 27-game ban for attempting to choke a referee during a Chilean second-division match at the weekend. The governing body of Chiles professional league said the defender was banned 20 games for attempting to choke referee Marcelo Miranda,five more for trying a second time to attack Miranda,and two more for a red card. Pedroso charged at Miranda in the match after the referee showed him a second yellow card for a violent tackle. As Miranda approached to show the card,Pedroso slipped behind him and grabbed the referee around the neck. After releasing him,he chased after Miranda and was wrestled to the ground by teammates. Im not the least bit sorry, Pedroso was quoted as saying. Brand Tiger erodes Tiger Woods estimated endorsements for 2010 are worth $22 million less than last year,according to Sports Illustrateds annual analysis of the highest-earning American athletes. Woods is still No. 1 on the list,as he has been for the rankings seven years. But his estimated total earnings of more than $90 million are down 30 percent from nearly $128 million two years ago. Rival Phil Mickelson is again No. 2 with total earnings of more than $61 million. His estimated endorsement income is $52 million,compared with $70 million for Woods. Floyd Mayweather Jr.,LeBron James,Alex Rodriguez,Shaquille ONeal,Kobe Bryant,Derek Jeter,Peyton Manning and Dwyane Wade round out the top 10. Cech tears calf muscle Chelsea will start the new season without goalkeeper Petr Cech after scans revealed a torn calf muscle,the club said on Wednesday. Cech has torn a calf muscle in his right leg and is expected to be out for a month,Chelseas website said. The 28-year-old,who sustained the injury during pre-season training on Tuesday,will be deputised by Ross Turnbull and Hilario as back-up keepers. Merchant,Chandra lose Yasin Merchant and Manan Chandra will return empty handed from Sangsom Six-Red World Snooker Championship as both of them have failed to win a single match at the event in Bangkok. Merchant lost 3 and Chandra 4 out of the five preliminary matches. Merchant suffered twin defeats on Tuesday while Chandra also lost of both his matches.
