London, Feb 26 : English skipper Andrew Strauss has insisted that the absence of star all rounder Andrew Flintoff's from the crunch Fourth Test starting today will not damage England's victory chances.

The fact is England win more matches when Flintoff is not in the side and statistics back it, The Sun reported.

"Clearly, we'd love him in the side, but I don't think it affects our chances," Strauss said.

Australia and South Africa are eying the top spot in the ICC Test rankings ahead of the three-Test series, which begins here from today.  

It can be recalled here that Aussie’s are clinging on to the top spot - a position it has held for almost six years - with 126 points.

However, the Proteas, with 121 points, are also not too behind them.

With 118 points, India is placed at third position.  

Former India women's cricket captain Mamatha Maben will coach the Chinese national side for the 2010 Asian Games

 Like the protagonist of the Hindi flick Chandni Chowk to China, Mamatha Maben sees her new China assignment as the start of a new innings.

The popular Karnataka cricketer will be taking over as coach of the Chinese national women's team in the sport known there as Shen shi yun dong. "This is my first major assignment as a coach and I'm looking forward to it. I intend to play alongside the girls there as I am still fit enough to play," Maben said.

Vidarbha Cricket Association's Rohan Sharma continued his fine run with both the ball and bat as his team cantered past the hapless BPL Shivaji Park Gymkhana by nine wicktes in the Cadence Trophy under-13 cricket tournament, at the Cadence ground here on Wednesday.

"There is nothing special about the way I play. I only apply myself and attack the stumps while bowling, and while batting I concentrate to stay at the wicket and the runs flow," said Rohan, the IX standard student from Swaminarayan School in Nagpur.

"It is the team effort that is in this side and they are reaping rich. I would not single out anybody, but it is the team work that has made this side a winning side," sums up Praveen Hinganikar, their coach.

Opener Sainath Pawar slammed a fine hundred (101) as Abasaheb Atre School gained a massive 227-run first innings lead over Rosary High School, in the Kohinoor Trophy under-14 inter-school cricket tournament at Ammunition Factory ground here on Wednesday.

Rosary High School elected to field first and sent back opening batsman Chetan Pujari in the early overs. Later, Dipesh Sonigra and Rishabh Bamboli picked three wickets each as they knocked off top order. It was only Pawar who played fluently while wickets were trembling at the other end.

It is a sort of victory for the members of the Cricket Club of India as the IPL and its franchisees seem to be looking elsewhere. The DY Patil Stadium is now fast emerging as the preferred venue for the matches of Season II of the IPL.

It is learnt that Mumbai Indians officials will be visiting the Nerul Stadium on Thursday. Sources even say that the officials of the Reliance Group, which owns the Mumbai Indians team, will hold parleys with the DY Patil Stadium authorities. They are also believed to be close to striking a deal.