Strauss Handed Selection Headache By Flintoff Fitness

Andrew Strauss may be doing his best to heal rifts that opened up in the England ranks in the aftermath of the Peter Moores-Kevin Pietersen affair, but friction is never far away. With only 24 hours to go before the start of the first Test here, there was still doubt about whether Andrew Flintoff was fit to play – or rather, a difference of opinion about it, said to exist between the player and the medical staff.

Flintoff, who felt a twinge beneath his left ribcage nearly two weeks ago, was bullish that he will take the field and that it will not impact on his participation in the three Tests that follow. Medical staff were said to be not so sure, claiming that to risk playing now, with so little full-on bowling behind him, might jeopardize future matches for him, while a further week's rehabilitation, before the second Test in Antigua, could make all the difference.

Normally the medical opinion would hold sway, especially when a player is willing to bust a gut to play. Yet it was immediately after his appointment that Strauss insisted that the days of mothering players were gone, to be replaced by personal responsibility for preparation and performance. Even yesterday he was saying that constantly telling players what to do can create resentment.

So if were Flintoff to insist that he is fit, as is likely (and no assessment can be made until this morning after it is ascertained what reaction he had to a bewilderingly short session yesterday), but the medical staff opine otherwise, there will be a dilemma. Thus England could start the series either with a player already disgruntled, for a variety of reasons, made further so by being left on the sidelines, or leaving medical staff wondering what is the point of their expertise and declared opinion. Yesterday, Strauss was adamant that the medical team will decide and if they rule against Flintoff playing, then seat belts should be fastened.

A small point maybe, but a dysfunctional family does not mend its ways overnight, as the Indian Premier League compensation issue illustrates. All of this is grist to the West Indian mill for, contrary to much general opinion, this is not a series in which England have only to turn up to win. West Indies cricket is in a mess but that is more administrative, organisational and political. England have already found that there are extremely talented players — Adrian Barath and Lendl Simmons, the run-gluttons of St Kitts the obvious ones — coming through the system.

Moreover, far from being the fiasco it was painted erroneously in England, the Stanford Super Series may have had a stimulating effect on Caribbean cricketers.

Six of those Stanford millionaires are in the Test squad, each of whom understands the reward that comes from diligence, hard preparation and discipline, the last of these rarely seen as a West Indian cricketing virtue in recent years. If that can be translated into the Test arena, and those who surround them can draw from that, then with batsmen of the quality of Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and a feisty pacy trio in Jerome Taylor, Daren Powell, and the dangerous Fidel Edwards, West Indies could provide the stiffest competition.

Suggestions that this opening Test and the one that follows in Antigua are destined to be draws on account of the pitch would seem, if history tells anything, to be as wide of the mark as the idea that Sabina has rediscovered its pace.

Since the abandoned Test of 1998 there have been 10 Tests played here and not one draw. No longer is the groundsman permitted to spin the roller on a damp surface to buff a mirror shine: yesterday it resembled the pitches of the subcontinent. Neither captain will do anything other than bat first.

According to Flintoff, the ground conditions are not conducive to the promotion of reverse swing, a crucial weapon for England. The outfield is too lush in his reckoning. Any hope of good bounce to allow a bombardment looks optimistic, so that bowlers will find the going hard.

The balance of the side, of course, depends on Flintoff. If he plays, then four further bowlers will be chosen, the most likely combination being Steve Harmison, Ryan Sidebottom and Stuart Broad, with Monty Panesar. Suggestions that two spinners might play are impractical given the doubts over Flintoff, even if he is in the side. Should he not play then Owais Shah will bat at six, with just four bowlers. The rumor that Adil Rashid, here to learn, could come in instead is just risible.