Flintoff named in CSK squad

England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff is one step closer to a return to top-flight cricket after being named in the Chennai Super Kings’ preliminary squad for the Airtel Champions League Twenty20.

The 32-year-old, who has not played first-class cricket since the Ashes series in England last year, has been named in a star-studded 20-player CSK squad for the second edition of the 10-team tournament which will be played in South Africa from 10-26 September.

With eight of the nine confirmed teams for the tournament having named their preliminary squads – with the exception of Wayamba – just three weeks remain before the final squads of 15 are selected on 9 August.

A number of players have been named by more than one team, making each of the final selections an important strategic and financial decision for the teams. As was the case in 2009, if a player is selected to play for an ‘away’ team rather than his ‘home’ team (the team from the country he is eligible to represent in international cricket), the ‘away’ team must pay US$200,000 compensation to the ‘home’ team.

Flintoff is among world cricket’s biggest names who have been named in the preliminary squads, including:

Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai Indians - MI),

MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings - CSK),

Mahela Jayawardene (Wayamba Elevens),

Dale Steyn (Royal Challengers Bangalore - RCB),

Rahul Dravid (RCB), JP Duminy (MI),

Matthew Hayden (CSK),

Ross Taylor (Central Stags/Victorian Bushrangers/RCB),

Muttiah Muralidaran (CSK),

Kieron Pollard (South Australian Redbacks/MI),

Harbhajan Singh (MI) and Mike Hussey (CSK).