England all-rounder Stuart Broad will take a few days rest and will not play the third NatWest series match against Australia.

England all-rounder Stuart Broad has been granted a few days rest and will not feature in tomorrow’s third NatWest series match against Australia at the Rose Bowl.

Broad, 23, sustained a neck strain in the opening match of the series last Friday which caused him to miss the second game at Lord’s on Sunday.

Although England are 2-0 down and Broad is a major player in their one-day plans, it was decided to allow him further recuperation time given the heavy scheduling over the next month.

Broad will rejoin the party on Thursday evening in anticipation of featuring in the fourth match of seven at Lord’s on Saturday.

In the meantime, England will effectively pick from a 13-man squad, with Kent opening batsman Joe Denly unavailable for Wednesday’s day-nighter due to his knee injury.

Meanwhile, fast bowler Graham Onions joined up with the party this morning at the Rose Bowl to bolster the options in the attack.

Australia all-rounder Shane Watson will not be sent home after being diagnosed with a minor thigh injury.

Scans on Tuesday on Watson’s left knee confirmed a “low-grade strain”, which has forced the 28-year-old to miss the opening four-day tour game against Sussex at Hove.It is not yet known when Watson will fully recovered from the injury, but with just two weeks to go before the opening Ashes Test in Cardiff on July 8 his availability for that game remains in some doubt.

“Watson has suffered a low-grade strain”

Australia team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris did not put a time frame on Watson’s recovery, but gave hope he could return to fitness in time for the match at Sophia Gardens.

“He has suffered a low-grade strain of one of his quadriceps muscles,” Kountouris revealed. “We expect this injury should resolve fairly quickly.

“His return to play will be guided by progress made in the next few days.”

Watson had missed Australia’s training sessions on Monday and Tuesday after complaining of general stiffness.

That prompted the Australian team officials to contemplate calling up a replacement for the injury-prone Queenslander, however, the results of Wednesday’s scans would rule out such action in the short term at least.

While Watson will now stay on in England, his hopes of pressing for a place in the first Test team have been set back by his latest injury.

Captain Ricky Ponting admitted as much on Tuesday after the team for the match at Hove was named, saying: “For him it’s obviously a setback. He’s disappointed that he wasn’t available for selection in this game.

“I don’t know if it harms his chances even more for the first Test match but there’s an opportunity that’s slipped out of his grasp over the next four days.”

He added: “Hopefully within a couple of days he’s right to start back up and work up on his bowling again.”

Paul Collingwood has been ruled out of the T20 clash against West Indies on Sunday after he caught a bacterial infection.

The all-rounder was unable to train with the rest of the squad on Friday, BBC News online reports.

West Indies will start without skipper Chris Gayle, as he suffers from a groin injury.

Wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin will stand in as skipper, while all-rounder Dwayne Bravo is available after being out for six months with an ankle problem. Bravo underwent surgery in New York last August but is named in the 13-man squad and is expected to play.

One-day specialist Dimitri Mascarenhas will hope to make his first England appearance since June - having just helped Otago win New Zealand’s domestic Twenty20 competition.

Captain Andrew Strauss is in line to play his first one-day game for England since the 2007 World Cup, and will be boosted by the return of key all-rounder Andrew Flintoff who missed the final Test.

All-rounder Andrew Flintoff will fly home from the tour of West Indies with a view to returning ahead of the ODI’s.

Flintoff, 31, is currently sidelined with a hip injury and has been ruled out of the final Test in Trinidad next week.

He will continue his rehabilitation back in the UK and is scheduled to join up again with the squad on the final day of the Test series, fitness permitting.

The England management discussed the best option for trying to get Flintoff fit again on Thursday following the first day’s play of the fourth Test at Kensington Oval.

The medical staff recommended he temporarily quit the tour because he can receive better and more intensive rehab treatment. He spent Thursday’s morning session receiving physiotherapy in the dressing room.

At this stage, England have not ruled him out of the Twenty20 match and five one-day internationals that follow the Test series.

But the longer his injury takes to heal, the more scrutiny will be placed on Flintoff’s lucrative deal with Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League, which runs for three weeks in April.

Ravi Bopara faces an anxious wait to discover whether he will become part of the excitement of the Indian Premier League after being named as one of 20 English cricketers being put forward for auction.

The Essex all-rounder was included in a long list of England players hoping to earn lucrative contracts for the Twenty20 tournament being staged from April 10 to May 29.

“If I said it [money] isn’t important then I would be lying - because it makes a big difference to a lot of cricketers, to their future and their families,” said Bopara. “But if you’re a real cricket lover and you play it because you love the game, you just take all that in your stride.”

He added: “It’s a great opportunity to earn money, and we’ll all have a smile about it. But the main thing you play for and what gives you the fire in the belly is wanting to achieve things as a cricketer and become the best player you can on any stage.

“To be able to play in the same team as guys you’ve played against around the world will be fantastic. It will be like playing in an all-star team - it will be incredible.”

Andrew Flintoff has the chance to firmly establish himself as the world’s best all-rounder this winter in India.

The 30-year-old Lancashire all-rounder enjoyed a spectacular resurgence at the end of the English summer, winning the man-of-the-series award for his outstanding performances during the 4-0 one-day series triumph over South Africa.

“One of the things I was determined to do when I came back into international cricket was that I wanted to enjoy it,” said Flintoff. “I knew there was going to be pressure on me but cricket’s not life or death, it’s a game and it’s be enjoyed.”

He added: “Possibly for a period I lost that enjoyment. I’m in a privileged position because I’m playing cricket for England but I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts and it always helps when you’re doing well but I’m in a very good place at the moment.”

He added: “There were a lot of different circumstances which dictated I wasn’t enjoying my cricket as much as I should have done. There was what happened in the World Cup and when you’re not playing well or injured it’s very tough.

“I’m now coming back after my fourth operation so all this is almost like a bonus. I don’t know how long I’ll play for but I’m determined to enjoy it while it lasts.”