Cricket: Flintoff Confident of Making Lord's

England were so disturbed yesterday to find that news had leaked out about a secret ankle scan for Andrew Flintoff that they hid him for most of the day in the middle of Regent's Park. When he eventually emerged from a scrum of London schoolchildren, who were valiantly trying to play Kwik Cricket in pouring rain, he announced himself "hopeful" that he will be fit enough to take part in Thursday's Lord's Test against West Indies.

Flintoff has had almost as many scans as pints, so he did not look overly concerned at his latest injury scare. He withstood frequent ankle niggles throughout last winter, following a second operation, but the pain intensified during Lancashire's championship match against Hampshire in Southampton on Friday. He had a scan on Sunday and he will discuss the findings with England's physio, Kirk Russell, at Lord's today.

With the West Indies series beginning with back-to-back Tests, it would be madness to risk Flintoff if he was not 100% fit - or at least as close to 100% as he ever gets these days. The logical solution would be to give Owais Shah a second Test cap at No6, draft in Jimmy Anderson as a fourth seamer and assume that the unsettled May weather will allow the omission of the sole spinner, Monty Panesar, without too much disquiet.

"I'm hopeful for Thursday, but when it's the ankle the alarm bells start ringing," he said. "I had a bit of discomfort in the winter, so it is nothing new, but this was a bit worse - I struggled while bowling on Friday - so we will have to wait and see."

Every ankle twinge stokes fears about Flintoff's long-term future - he is a heavy-footed man, whose impact in his delivery stride can deafen an umpire - but he regards it all with equanimity. He was asked yesterday to reflect on England's failed World Cup challenge, as if it might be his last. "I'm only 29 years of age, I'm in my prime," he exclaimed. "The World Cup comes every four years, not every 10. I'm planning to play at least one more."

County cricket has lightened his mood and allowed him to address his batting problems, although further ankle trouble suggests that, for his own long-term good, he might soon have to play for Lancashire as primarily a specialist batsman.

If the ankle doesn't get him perhaps hypothermia will. "He looks very Northern," a passer-by said, as he happily withstood 9C temperatures in an Asda Kwik Cricket T-shirt. "Anyone who can encourage 120,000 kids to play cricket deserves exposure," Flintoff asserted. True enough, but we don't want him dying of it.