ECB Moves on Flintoff

England acted yesterday to damp down speculation that Andrew Flintoff had already been ruled out of the Sri Lanka Test series, insisting no decision will be taken until after the one-dayers. Fears for Flintoff's future rose again after a source close to the all-rounder suggested he was "frustrated and worried" and would "look anywhere on the planet for help". The England and Wales Cricket Board's chief medical officer, Nick Peirce, traveled to Amsterdam with Flintoff last week for another assessment of a chronic ankle condition that has required three operations.

When Flintoff pulled out of the one-day series in Sri Lanka a fortnight ago it was feared he would not be fit to return until the New Zealand tour next year. England's coach, Peter Moore's, promised then that there would be no gamble on his fitness to get him ready for the Sri Lanka Test series in December. "Nothing has changed," said an ECB spokesman yesterday. "Andrew Flintoff has not been ruled out of the Sri Lanka Test series. We are naming the Test squad at the end of the one-day series and we will address these issues then."