At last count, Flintoff has joined Michael Vaughan, Liam Plunkett, Ashley Giles and Simon Jones on the operating table, not to mention the Ashes critical list. Pakistan’s three fast bowlers, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, all remain on the sidelines. Shahid Afridi was hit while batting in the nets but is fine now. Bob Woolmer says Akhtar is “still 10 days away from bowling properly in a match and then he’s got to get match-fit before he could get in the team”.