Andrew Flintoff was today officially appointed England’s captain for the ICC Champions Trophy and the Ashes tour.
The Lancashire all-rounder has won the battle with Andrew Strauss to lead England this winter despite the Middlesex batsman having guided England to a Test series win over Pakistan and a drawn one-day series in Flintoff’s absence.
It ended weeks of deliberations by the selectors about who was the best candidate to lead the side as they bid to retain the Ashes in Australia for the first time since 1987.
“We’ve had to make a very tough decision in choosing between Andrew Flintoff and Andrew Strauss for the captaincy and we were fortunate to have two such outstanding candidates available to us in Michael Vaughan’s absence,” said David Graveney, the chairman of selectors.
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“Ultimately we took the view that Andrew Flintoff had demonstrated excellent leadership skills during a difficult tour of India earlier this year, that he was the man in possession and deserved a further opportunity to continue as captain.”
Flintoff admitted he had still not fully absorbed being awarded the captaincy, saying: “I got a phone call from Graves [David Graveney] yesterday passing on the good news.
“I don’t think it has quite sunk in yet, there is a lot of emotion [about] having the chance to lead in England in Australia.
“At this moment in time it is pinch yourself.”
He added: “Last summer was something special and some of the lads are going want it again, some probably watched it and want to experience that euphoria. There will be a lot of excited young lads.
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“We’re going out there to play good cricket and compete with Australia who are the best team in the world.”
Flintoff will lead an England tour party unprecedented in its scale to Australia, with 16 players being named in the official tour party while a further 14 players will be based in Perth on standby.
There are several injury doubts included in the main party including James Anderson, the Lancashire seamer, who has been sidelined all season with a stress fracture of his back.
Ashley Giles, the Warwickshire left-arm spinner, is also included despite also being ruled out for the whole season with hip and hernia problems while Liam Plunkett, the Durham all-rounder, has also been selected despite being on the sidelines with a side strain for the second half of the season.
Marcus Trescothick, the Somerset left-hander, is in the squad despite the stress-related illness which has prevented his inclusion in the Champions Trophy squad. However, Simon Jones, the Glamorgan seamer, who has also been sidelined for the whole season with a knee problem, has been overlooked after being advised by a specialist to delay his return to cricket until the 2007 domestic season.
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Dr Peter Gregory, the England and Wales Cricket Board’s chief medical officer, said: “Simon recently travelled to America for a re-assessment of the left knee which was operated on earlier in the summer by a specialist in Colorado.
“He underwent an arthroscopy which showed that the knee has responded well to the micro-fracturing treatment designed to repair the joint surface.
“The specialist is encouraged by Simon’s progress but he has advised that any return to competitive cricket should be delayed until next season in order to give the surgery the best chance of succeeding.”
The squad contains only four players - Giles, Trescothick, Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison - who played in the final Test of the previous Ashes tour at Sydney four years ago.
Despite reports claiming Vaughan would shadow the squad out in Australia and continue his rehabilitation down under, the ECB have also confirmed he will remain in England and not travel out to Australia until he is ready for cricket-related training.
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ASHES SQUAD: Andrew Flintoff (Lancashire, capt), James Anderson (Lancashire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Paul Collingwood (Durham), Alastair Cook (Essex), Ashley Giles (Warwickshire), Stephen Harmison (Durham), Matthew Hoggard (Yorkshire), Geraint Jones (Kent, wkt), Sajid Mahmood (Lancashire), Monty Panesar (Northamptonshire), Liam Plunkett (Durham), Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire), Chris Read (Nottinghamshire, wkt), Andrew Strauss (Middlesex), Marcus Trescothick (Somerset).