Flintoff To End The Exile?

Flintoff - Ready For Recall?

Andrew Flintoff has been primed for a Headingley return against South Africa after national selector Geoff Miller insisted England's Test team had not become a 'cosy club'.

The opening match of the npower series at Lord's next week came too soon for 30-year-old Flintoff, who celebrated his return to County Championship action with a first half-century in 14 months yesterday.

Despite maintaining consistency of selection, however - England will create Test history if they field the same XI for the sixth consecutive match a week today - there were strong hints all-rounder Flintoff is on the verge of ending an 18-month exile in Leeds in a fortnight.

After, as expected, naming an unchanged 12-man squad for the opener in a four-match campaign, Miller warned against consistency turning into complacency.

"If there is somebody in a situation where they can overtake them and we think they can perform better for us, then we would do that," said Miller.

"We've left bowlers out in New Zealand and that made a difference and at one stage we left Andrew Strauss out as well, so it is not a cosy club at all.

"It is our decision if they're good enough to stay in the side or not."

Miller added: "We have been in constant communication with Andrew over a period of time and we just need to see a few more miles in the legs and a few more runs from the bat.

"But England is a better side, as we know, with a fully fit Andrew Flintoff."

A lack of productivity with the bat between the numerous ankle operations of recent years has pushed the selectors to re-consider 30-year-old Flintoff's role in the side.

One mode of thinking was to slip him down to number seven, and use him in a four-man attack, rather than his more accustomed position of number six.

"If he starts putting in the performances with the bat that he used to be able to we would probably think in those terms," said Miller.

"But to make us a strong side we would reassess that middle order because a lot of games are won at six, seven, eight and nine.

"We want to strengthen the side as much as possible, so he could be involved in any position there."

Lancastrian Flintoff last played in the whitewash-sealing defeat to Australia in the 2006-07 Ashes, and will now have the opportunity to press his case in the County Championship fixture against Hampshire, which begins next Friday.

Unlike earlier in the summer, England resisted the chance to name the same squad for back-to-back Tests, primarily for the sake of Flintoff, but also perhaps to give themselves room to manoeuvre should the batting unit's failures continue.

England have gone 12 Tests without managing to record 400 in their first innings and although all their mainstream batsmen have career averages over 40, only Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Strauss have managed that mark in the past 12 months.

But Miller said: "At this moment in time we think we've got six solid players, quality players, strong with technique and good mentally as well.

"Everybody has got to perform, it is not just individuals, this is a team game, there are 11 players and they all have to perform with bat and ball to continue on the winning way."

One-day players Owais Shah and Ravi Bopara, as well as Kent captain Robert Key, England would have shown their hand in terms of a pecking order had they opted to select a standby batsmen for captain Michael Vaughan but the soreness in his right knee is under control, according to Miller.

"He has had an injury which was operated on, so he's going to get niggles and twinges, which he has had," he said.

"But he's fine, I've had a chat with him and he can manage it okay."

Despite the winning culture of the Test team, which developed in series victories over New Zealand, a number of individuals are under pressure and once again the wicketkeeping spot is under scrutiny following Tim Ambrose's paltry 10 runs in the NatWest Series.

"Tim Ambrose has scored a hundred, has scored 50s for England in Test cricket and we will continue to go in that way until it's blatantly obvious it is the wrong decision," said Miller, rather ominously.

"At the moment, we think it's the right decision."

England are third in the official Test rankings, higher than Graeme Smith's tourists but the second npower campaign of the summer will undoubtedly be a step up in class.

"We are talking about international cricket here and they all throw different qualities at us," Miller said.

"We have to combat those. Yes, they're a good side and have been over the last year or so.

"But I've got confidence in my players to give them a game as well - let's talk about ours as opposed to South Africa."