October 17 Thursday 2002
Flintoff adds to England fitness worries

LONDON: England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has admitted that he was unable to run three weeks before the start of the Ashes series in Australia.

Flintoff is currently trying to regain fitness following a double hernia operation and is due to fly out with the rest of he England squad on Thursday (today). He hopes to be fit for the first Test at Brisbane's Gabba ground on November 7, but told Wednesday's edition of 'The Sun' newspaper: 

"There's no question that my recovery is taking longer than I had expected. I was hoping to be able to bowl flat out as soon as the team arrived in Australia. As it is, the operation was more than six weeks ago and I'm not yet able to run. The pounding of running would be too much at this stage.

"I can row, cycle and swim, as well as do weights, and I've been working very hard on those things in the gym." Flintoff is well aware of the problems of coming back too soon. "As a lad, I used to dream about playing in an Ashes series and the World Cup. We have both of them in the space of a few months, it is a massive winter. If I rush back, it could put me out for the whole Ashes series or even the World Cup. So I don't intend taking any risks. If necessary, I'll aim to be fit for the second Test in Adelaide on November 21."

Flintoff played most of last season in growing pain from his hernia, with captain Nasser Hussain admitting England's use of the all-rounder while less than fully fit was "unprofessional".

Flintoff finally had an operation at the end of August following England's third Test defeat against India at Headingley where he collected a pair. England's plan was that Flintoff would be fully recovered by the time the team flew out to Australia.

As it is he has added to England's list of injury concerns. Fast bowler Darren Gough (knee) has said that he might not be fit until the third Test while fellow quick Simon Jones has been suffering from a side strain since July. And another of England's pacemen, Andrew Caddick, has suffered with knee trouble.

Top-order batsmen Michael Vaughan and Mark Butcher have both been struggling with knee injuries although they are expected to be fit from the start of the tour.