Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf has urged England to recall Andrew Flintoff for the opening Test against New Zealand after witnessing his superb bowling display for Lancashire against Durham on Sunday.

Lancashire all-rounder Flintoff claimed two for 13 from his five overs in a Friends Provident Trophy match reduced to 23 overs a side at Old Trafford, which helped restrict holders Durham to 151 for seven.

His contribution was crucial as Lancashire sealed a dramatic five-wicket win with Steven Croft hitting a six off the last ball to seal the triumph.

Flintoff's display was enough to convince Yousuf, who made 32 on his Lancashire debut having arrived in England on Friday, that the 30-year-old is ready for the demands of Test cricket again.

"He was the first to call me when I arrived and that gave me a great boost of confidence," admitted Yousuf. "He has always been a great all-rounder and the way he bowled shows that he's still the best.

"I was very impressed with the way he bowled. The way he bowled, he should go straight into the Test match team because he's England's best player."

Durham and England all-rounder Paul Collingwood was also impressed with Flintoff's display, saying: "He's a star performer - he's absolutely world class.

"He looks fit, which is good, and he's obviously running in and hitting the pitch hard like he normally does and he looks in good touch with the bat. He's moving freely, which is good news for all concerned, for Lancashire and in the long run, England."

Collingwood added: "His selection for England will obviously come down to his fitness. We've said all along that we don't want to rush him back and that's entirely up to Andrew himself, how good he feels and whether he's got enough overs under his belt but he looks really good.

"We don't want to rush him back because he's been through a hell of a lot with injuries and we don't want to go through all that again.

"Five-day games are long and you have to bowl a lot of overs in that time and so far this season he's bowled 60-odd overs so the question is whether that is enough overs."

Fellow England hopeful Steve Harmison was also among the wickets with two wickets off his five overs - albeit for an expensive 33 runs.

Scotland beat Derbyshire by 39 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method at Derby.

A fine 106 from James Benning helped Surrey to a comfortable five-wicket win over early South East leaders Middlesex at Lord's as the hosts posted 233 for eight.

England contenders Andrew Strauss (13) and Owais Shah (one) both failed for Middlesex as Jade Dernbach (three for 44) and Australian Matt Nicholson (three for 37) dominated.

Kent beat Sussex by four wickets with a single ball to spare at Hove.

Nottinghamshire beat Northamptonshire by six wickets under the Duckworth-Lewis method at Trent Bridge.

At Grace Road, James Allenby struck 63 and took four wickets as Leicestershire recorded their first win of the season by 39 runs over Ireland.

Gloucestershire scored 350 for five but were defeated by Hampshire at the Rose Bowl under the Duckworth-Lewis method with Kevin Pietersen mustering only 23.