Moores Struggles to Decide Best Way Forward for Flintoff

If Andrew Flintoff is in the mood to listen, he will hear gentle intimations from England's coaching staff that it might be best, only a week into his comeback from a third ankle operation, to take a time-out in the third NatWest Series tie against India here today. Then again, eagerly back in the fray, he might not be in the mood to listen.

Had England still been in the unwavering world of their previous coach, Duncan Fletcher, brawny arms would have been folded and unequivocal judgment passed on whether Flintoff should take the field today. Peter Moores, his successor, a man of concessions and happy balances, is more likely to call a symposium before, if possible, leaving the final decision in Flintoff's hands.

The ankle that has been thrice operated upon has so far stood up to the test but it is now "a bit of pain in the front knee" that threatens the well-being of England's hulking all-rounder and which led to a cortisone injection after the second ODI in Bristol. Flintoff regularly vows never to have another cortisone injection but before too long he finds himself lying resignedly on a bench while someone heads towards him with a beaming smile and a large syringe.

Moores was desperate to convince a skeptical media gathering yesterday that "the days when you just stuck needles into people are gone" and added: "The specialist thought it might be sensible to put just a little bit of anti-inflammatory in it, to let it settle down, as a precautionary measure, which Fred seemed quite happy with." He made it all sound quite recreational, the sort of thing some people might go hunting for in a shady corner of Leeds Fest.

"Fred plays a lot of cricket and knows his body," Moores said. "You trust the players to a degree. He does want to play and he knows there is a lot of cricket to come and he doesn't want to miss out. Between him, myself and the medical team we will make the right decision."

The correct decision, clearly, would be for Flintoff to take the long view, even if it leaves England, in the words of India's vice-captain, Mahendra Dhoni, "slightly on the back foot". Much emphasis is given to how Flintoff balances the England side; the need is for England to give emphasis to how they balance Flintoff's workload.

He spoke unrealistically before his return at the Rose Bowl last week of lengthening his career by becoming a "batting all-rounder" but, as soon as the adrenalin pumped, he was cranking the bowling up to 92mph. As Moores recognised, he will always be a "full-on, aggressive cricketer", which is all the more reason for others to intervene when necessary.

"He had a little bit of pain after the first game - nothing major - and it came on a little more at Bristol. Playing for England is a different intensity from county level. Different parts of your body have got to get used to that level again. The ankle, touch wood, seems to be great but it is not just the ankle that is under test, it's the whole body."

Life without Flintoff should mean a return at No6 for Owais Shah, who played consistently well in three ODIs against West Indies earlier this summer. His inclusion would leave England a bowler short but they would still have six bowlers for five slots, with Ravi Bopara and Paul Collingwood to share the fifth bowler's role. If that places pressure on Dimitri Mascarenhas to prove that he can be relied on to bowl a full spell in all circumstances, then at least England will learn something. Mascarenhas's maiden ODI fifty at Bristol possessed lusty defiance but he is not a long-term solution at No8 if his bowling is viewed as vulnerable.

Monty Panesar will also return, England's decision to exclude him on Friday because of Bristol's flat pitch and small straight boundaries having proved fallible. "It is rare to go in without a spinner," Moores said. "We made that call at Bristol - if it was the right one or not, who knows? We did it because of the size of the boundaries. Edgbaston is a more normal field."

England (from): P Collingwood (Durham, capt), IR Bell (Warwickshire), MJ Prior (Sussex, wk), OA Shah (Middlesex), KP Pietersen (Hampshire), A Flintoff (Lancashire), RS Bopara (Essex), SC Broad (Leicestershire), CT Tremlett (Hampshire), JM Anderson (Lancashire), MS Panesar (Northants), AN Cook (Essex), AD Mascarenhas (Hampshire), J Lewis (Gloucestershire).

India (from): R Dravid (capt) MS Dhoni (wk), SR Tendulkar, SC Ganguly, Y Singh, G Gambhir, RP Sharma, P Chawla, RR Powar, RV Uthappa, AB Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, MM Patel, KD Karthik, RP Singh.

Umpires BR Doctrove (WI) & MR Benson (Eng)

3rd Umpire PJ Hartley (Eng) Match referee RS Mahanama (SL).