Andrew Flintoff will continue his rehabilitation from ankle surgery tomorrow when he plays for England Lions in a one-day game against Mumbai at the Cricket Club of India.

The all-rounder, who has not played for four months, will feature as a batsman only and will not bowl. Flintoff has been working with England’s second string during their Indian tour but was not expected to play in a game until next month when he joins up with Lancashire.

His progress has been encouraging and team management have no qualms about pitching him into a competitive environment. He is yet to bowl since the operation, however, and will not start to do so until he returns to the Old Trafford indoor school in March.

“It will be great to play again. Everything has been going well but you can only do so much net practice. I’m ready for a match,” Flintoff said. “I’ll be playing as a batsman and fielder and I think I’ll be batting at No5. I won’t be bowling. In fact, I haven’t bowled a ball yet since the operation. I’m still taking things steadily on that score.

“My time with the Lions has been brilliant. It’s great to be around a cricket team again and they are a terrific bunch of lads. People shouldn’t expect too much from me in terms of scoring lots of runs, although it would be nice.”

(06-26) 13:43 PDT Cupertino, Calif. (AP) —

AT&T’s service plans for the Apple iPhone will cost $59.99 to $99.99 a month, the companies said Tuesday.

The monthly fee is on top of the phone’s price Д $499 for a model with 4 gigabytes of storage and $599 for one with 8 gigabytes. The phone is slated to go on sale at 6 p.m. local time Friday at Apple and AT&T stores as well as Apple’s Web site.

Apple claims the iPhone Д which combines the functions of a cell phone, iPod media player and Web-surfing device Д will be easier to use than other smart phones because of its unique touch-screen display and intuitive software that allows for easy access to voice mail messages, the Internet, and video and music libraries. AT&T is the gadget’s exclusive carrier.

The $59.99 monthly plan includes 450 minutes of voice time; a $79.99 plan includes 900 minutes; and a $99.99 plan includes 1,350 minutes. All three offer 200 text messages, unlimited data services, minutes that roll over month-to-month and mobile-to-mobile calls. There also is a $36 activation fee.

Customers will be able to activate their wireless service from home through Apple’s iTunes software, the companies said.

Skeptics question whether even the most innovative product can live up to the iPhone’s lofty expectations. Scrutiny of the product is so great that any small disappointment could send Apple’s stock plunging, analysts say.

Apple shares fell $2.69, or 2.2 percent, to $119.65 Tuesday. Shares of AT&T gained 21 cents to $39.29.

Andy Hargreaves, a Pacific Crest Securities analyst, said Apple shareholders have run the stock up in anticipation of the iPhone’s release, and they don’t feel it will go much higher after the product is available, he said.

“I think expectations are very, very high and some people are taking some money off the table ahead of the launch,” WR Hambrecht analyst Matthew Kather said.

New rave champions Klaxons are set to give number one single Umbrella a “Goldan Skans twist” when they perform a duet of the song with R&B singer Rihanna at this year’s Brit awards. The band spilled the beans on their planned duet with the American singer in an interview with Radio One’s Newsbeat, saying: “We’ve made our own slant on a contemporary version of it. It’s an electronic version with guitars on it”. Klaxons also said there had been some difficulty in reaching a decision on exactly how this “contemporary version” would sound. “They’ve got this funny idea of what our band sounds like and we’ve done three or four different versions,” the band said. “Her people kept sending versions back going ‘No, this sounds more like you.’”

Klaxons, who won the coveted Mercury Music prize last year, are nominated for two awards at this year’s Brits: Breakthrough Act and Best Live Act. Rihanna is nominated for the International Female Solo Artist award. Other performances scheduled to take place on the night are a duet by Adele and Mark Ronson on the single God Put A Smile on Your Face and a closing performance by Sir Paul McCartney of his recent single Dance Away.

In other Brits related news, the final shortlist for Best Single of 2008 has been announced. Mark Ronson, The Hoosiers, Take That, Mika and Leona Lewis are the five artists to have survived the cut, while the likes of Kate Nash, Sugababes and James Blunt are out of the running.

Mark Owen and band will face stiff competition for their upbeat single Shine from fellow pop compatriots Mika, and his annoyingly popular Grace Kelly, and the Hoosiers’ radio friendly Worried About Ray. However, the two biggest singles of the bunch are Leona Lewis’ record-breaking number one hit Bleeding Love and Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse’s cover of the Zutons’ Valerie.

Voting lines for Best Single of 2008 are now open and the winner will be announced at the ceremony at Earls Court on February 20th, presented by mater and pater Osbourne. Start-studded live coverage of the star-studded event will be happening on the «blogs.guardian.co.uk» on Wednesday evening.