ANDREW FLINTOFF will see Peter Gregory, the ECB medical officer, today for a further assessment of the injury to his left ankle that has cast doubt over the extent of his participation in the opening match of this year’s NatWest Series, against New Zealand at Old Trafford on Thursday. Dean Conway, the England physiotherapist, said: “The injury has not improved as much as we had hoped. It may do so in another three or four days but he has not been running around on the ankle to test it out and he is still uncomfortable walking about.”
Flintoff was injured during last week’s third Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge and missed Lancashire’s Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy quarter-final defeat by Yorkshire last Wednesday as well as England’s six-wicket win over Wales on Saturday to rest it. The injury is a common one among modern fast bowlers but if it fails to clear up completely before Thursday, England may be forced to play Flintoff as a specialist batsman, depriving Michael Vaughan, his captain, of arguably his most important one-day bowler.
Another injury scare, this time a minor one, occurred on Saturday when Andrew Strauss suffered a partial dislocation of the ring finger on his left hand while fielding, but his increasingly fluent unbeaten 92 from 86 balls suggested no long-term illeffects. Wales dropped Strauss twice, on two on slip and on 35, when David Hemp failed to latch on to a well-struck hook shot at deep square leg. Reprieved, the Middlesex captain took a heavy toll and finished the match in a hurry after the impressive Robert Key gloved a short ball from Steffan Jones.
Apart from concern over Flintoff, Saturday’s action suggests England are ready for the series. Darren Gough produced a hostile opening spell, Sajid Mahmood came back from a nervous opening to bowl effectively later on and Geraint Jones showed his versatility by pinch-hitting at No 3, making 21 from 20 balls.