Flintoff Back Near Full Speed and Awaiting Call for First Test

Andrew Flintoff is as confident as he can be of bowling at full pace in Lancashire's first three championship games of the season to stake his claim for an immediate England recall in the first Test against New Zealand in May. The reason for his cautious optimism is contained in a jar at the office of Dave "Rooster" Roberts, the physiotherapist with whom he has been through so much over the last decade, including the failure of comeback attempts following three previous ankle operations since January 2005.

Flintoff traveled to Amsterdam last October for a fourth operation inside three years after limping through England's miserable efforts in the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa. Professor Niek Van Dijk, the ankle specialist who had been identified by Roberts and the England medical team as Freddie's last hope, employed new techniques which, according to Flintoff, "removed some bone fragments that were deeply embedded and also did some work on the tendon". Those bone fragments are now in Roberts' office at Old Trafford, where Flintoff yesterday provided an upbeat progress report.

"So far, so good," he said after a peripatetic winter in which he spent six weeks in Florida and 10 days in Cape Town before easing back into action with the England Lions in India and on Lancashire's pre-season trip to Dubai, where he bowled nine overs. "The operation was that long ago it's almost out of my mind. I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a small niggle at the back of my mind after four operations, but that's inevitable. Having seen what the surgeon took out of it I'm confident it's going to be fine."

In rejecting the need to make further amendments to his much-discussed bowling action, he referred to something having been "clinically wrong with the ankle", that has "hopefully been eradicated".

The other reason for his optimism is the longer time scale for this recovery, compared to his return within two months of his third ankle operation last summer. "We've made a concerted effort this time not to rush the rehab," he explained. "There's been nothing like in the past when there has been an Ashes or a World Cup to get back for. This time we have taken our time and got it right. I'm pretty much where I would like to be, not just with the ball but the batting as well."

Flintoff is expected to continue his comeback in Lancashire's last two pre-season games against Yorkshire at Old Trafford next week before they return to the Oval - where they came agonizingly close to snatching the championship title in the last game of 2007 - to face Surrey.

"I'm aiming to start the season bowling at full pelt whenever the captain asks me," he continued. "Everyone has been talking about working at 70 to 80% but I reckon I'm not far off - if not bowling flat-out, then not too far from it." Lancashire team-mates report that he is already hitting the gloves of wicket keeper Luke Sutton with real pace and lift.

He bridled at the suggestion that he would be better off writing off the first half of the international summer to give him more time to consolidate his recovery. "No, there's a Test match on May 15th at Lord's that I'd love to be involved in," he said. "I've missed a lot of international cricket through injury and I don't want to miss any more, or as little as I have to. But I'm under no illusions. To get back into the side I'm going to have to be fit and playing well. That starts against Yorkshire and then the first championship game. I'd love to put my name in the hat. But even if I am playing well they [England] have just come off two Test wins [in New Zealand], so it's not assured. I'd just like to be in the mix-up."

Lancashire also have home championship games against Somerset and a Durham team likely to include Flintoff's close friend Steve Harmison, who will also have much to prove to the England selectors, before the first Test squad is picked.

Flintoff was non-committal about the dangers presented to English cricket by the money on offer to leading players from the two new Twenty20 competitions in India. "It has been mentioned," he confirmed. "But I've got a lot on my plate at the minute. I want to get on the field for Lancashire and I want to play for England so at this moment it is not really an option. Further down the line, who knows?"

Lancashire's chief executive Jim Cumbes suggested that the counties could be ready to respond to the Indian threat by voting at a meeting next week to expand next year's Twenty20 Cup at the expense of the 40-over league, and to allow at least three overseas players per team in this year's competition. "There needs to be a reaction pretty quickly," he said.