The India-England Test series is on but Andrew Flintoff is hell bent on not returning to India. Anyway, the series has lost its glamour after the Mumbai attacks and what remains is a mere formality.

England lost the one-day series and they are pretty certain of losing the Tests as well. But they have decided to give it a try and show some exemplary courage before giving up.

That way Kevin Pietersen and his troupe (with so many stopgaps) will send the message to the cricket fraternity across continents that the game is not dictated by a few terrorists, only to prove ECB Chairman Giles Clarke right. A strong message indeed. But it's difficult to believe that the burly Flintoff is just scared of terrorism in the sub-continent.

Flintoff might have heard deafening sounds of bombs in the Tube and London's buses. Don't they scare him or he just finds them as 'an attack on London's transport system'? Another piece of Geoffrey Boycott's absolute 'ruuuubbish'. When it happens in India, it is reign of terror. When it happens in England it's just an attack! The truth lies elsewhere.
 
Flintoff is quite scared to face the all-winning Indian team again. He was tormented enough with one-after-another defeat in the five ODIs. Now he is greatly relieved in his wife's palloo and does not want to go through the harrowing experience yet again. So he has taken the excuse to be with his wife and children.

Graeme Swann is not ready to come, thus writing a swansong to his career before it begins. James Anderson wants to be with his pregnant wife. Others who opt out of the series must have their wives and children in mind. Will any of those English players kindly tell whether Pietersen has a wife and children?

Be a sport, Freddie! And give it a second thought. With Allen Stanford around, all the England cricketers' wives are in safe hands.