July 23rd, 2009 by Peter Bevan

Kevin Pietersen is out for the rest of the Ashes 2009 with injury

England are gearing towards the third test of the Ashes 2009 after an inspiring performance from Andrew Flintoff gave England a 1-0 lead over Australia in the second test at London Lord’s Cricket Ground.

All-rounder Freddie Flintoff took 5-95 as England claimed a 115-run win, England’s first victory over Australia at London Lord’s Cricket Ground, the Home of Cricket, since 1934. England captain Andrew Strauss called the victory special and a dream come true.

Despite a man-of-the-match performance, Andrew Flintoff still stands by his decision to retire from Test cricket after this year’s Ashes series, and insists England’s second test win was not all down to him but was instead a real team effort and team performance.

Freddie Flintoff now warns England to expect a backlash from their opponents and wants to makes sure England will not suffer from complacency. Andrew Strauss agrees, warning his players not to get too carried away with their historic win, especially as England were close to losing the first test at the Cardiff Sophia Gardens, SWALEC Stadium.

There are injury concerns for Andrew Flintoff for the third test of the Ashes 2009, and England’s team director Andy Flower says Andrew Flintoff will not be picked for the third test unless he will be fit for the whole five days.

Someone who will definitely not be playing for the duration of the Ashes series is the former England captain Kevin Pietersen after having surgery on his Achilles tendon.

Kevin Pietersen was clearly struggling in the second test and he says it was time to look at other ways of treating the injury, having seen an Achilles specialist and is now hoping to be injury-free in the future after undergoing a course of rehabilitation.

Andrew Flintoff admits losing such an influential player as Kevin Pietersen is really disappointing but knows that Ian Bell, who is expected to take the place of Kevin Pietersen in the England team, can come in and do the job as well.

Meanwhile, Australia captain Ricky Ponting admits the best team won after the Ashes 2009 second test, even though Australia were subject to questionable decisions by the umpire.

Ricky Ponting refuses to use that as an excuse for their loss in the second test and is confident his team will bounce back withount needing to panic or make any changes to the team.

Cricket fans can catch the players in action throughout the Ashes 2009 series, with the third test taking place at the Birmingham Edgbaston Cricket Ground (July 30 – August 3).

The fourth test will be at Leeds Headingley Stadium (August 7-11) and the final test will be at the London Oval Cricket Ground (August 20-24).

The Ashes 2009 tickets are available to compare at tixdaq.com