You are in > manchester.com  > News > Flintoff pleased with comeback despite lack of wickets

Cricket

Flintoff pleased with comeback despite lack of wickets

20/04/2008

Andrew Flintoff was pleased with his latest comeback from injury during Lancashire's drawn County Championship game against Surrey.

Although the all-rounder could only take one wicket on the opening morning and scored just 23 with the bat Flintoff said his fitness was the key thing he was focusing on.

"From a fitness point of view I thought I kept my pace up all the way through my spells, maybe there is a little bit more in there but not a great deal," said Flintoff.

Poor weather conditions meant each side could only play one innings meaning Flintoff's time on the field was restricted. However, he bowled 28 overs, in short spells, and came through unscathed.

The 30-year-old said he had felt confident in his ability to get through the game before it started and now wanted to look forward to a prolonged period without any trouble from his persistent injury.

He said: "Coming out of the operation, hopefully it is cured clinically, but from a workload point of view, I have come back from the previous operations and played for a period of time.

"Maybe if I played for a period of time, for ten or 12 months, and break the cycle of bowling 150 overs, 200 overs and then breaking down I will be happy."

The surgery performed on Flintoff's ankle was his fourth operation in recent years and the Lancastrian says he will have to pay close attention to it for the rest of his career.

He said: "I am going to have to keep working on my ankle, my left leg and calf in particular. So I will probably be on some sort of rehab programme now for the rest of my career."

But Flintoff still believes that despite the rehab issues he can still play at the highest level and is eager to join up with the England squad as soon as possible this summer.