subject: England Hopes Flintoff Is Fit [print this page] Andy Flower, England Cricket Coach, is hoping for star Andrew Flintoff to be fit to play in the fourth ashes. It takes place in Headingley on Friday and they are hoping for a win.
Flintoff has had to heavily rely on injections in his right knee in the past two Tests. He lokoed like he was struggling on the third at Edgbaston.
"He is determined to play but he and the experts can make a considered decision," said flowers.
England are winning the series 1-0 and are set to name the squad today at 2 o'clock. Flintoff will most likely be in the draw but with only three days between Monday's drawn contest at Edgbaston and the penultimate match of the campaign at Headingley he will be spending a lot of time resting.
Flintoff was England's match winner at Lord's which gave us the advantage of the series. Flintoff bowled only 11 overs and none in the final session and laboured somewhat in the field. However, England captain Andrew Strauss said he was "optimistic" Flintoff would be available for Headingley.
"There is obviously some soreness there but I don't think there's anything that has deteriorated massively over the course of the game," stated Strauss.
"He needs to rest up well because back-to-back Tests are hard for any bowlers and we'll see how he is on Thursday.
"We want to play our best team in every game we play but we've got to be conscious that if he's not fit enough to do his job then he won't play.
We've had to play without him plenty of times over the last two years so it wouldn't be anything new to us. "Generally the bowlers have stepped up when he hasn't played but at the moment he's in great nick with both ball and bat so we don't want to play without him, if we can help it."
All of the equipment is this years stock and will be the cheapest prices you can find on the net!
Andrew Flintoff is not taking up too much time thinking about his retirement from Test cricket. Instead he is focusing on the important Ashes against Australia at the oveal.
So far there is 1-1 going onto Thursday's start. It is essential for England to win this Ashes.
"It's my last Test but I'm not too fussed about that. It's more the chance to win the Ashes again," Flintoff said.
"I'm not the first to say I'm retiring during a series and I won't be the last. The occasion's bigger than that."
In 2005 Flintoff was a major part of the Ashes however he has had a few bad games this series and missed the fourth test at Headingley due to a knee problem.
Flintoff is confident for getting his body up to scratch.
I've been working with (physio) Dave Roberts, had some batting over the weekend, and bowled on Tuesday. I'm confident I'll come through," he added.
"I'm probably in a better state than I was going into the third Test at Edgbaston. I think I'm more or less there, I just have to prove it."
