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Flintoff would have been in England squad if fit

13/05/2008

Andrew Flintoff would have made his comeback for the England Test side against New Zealand at Lords on Thursday, had injury not ruled him out of the match.

England beat New Zealand 2-1 in a test series in March without the all-rounder but Peter Moores would have selected the Lancashire man had he been passed fit to play.

Flintoff, 30, was the subject of speculation before the test following a good spell of form for his county and Moores said "he would have been in the squad".

"The whole thing with Freddie and all the talk about should he be in or should he not, it would have given us a chance to assess him," he explained.

"It would have been a decision about whether he would have been fit enough to play in that Test. As it happened that decision was taken out of our hands because obviously he got a side strain," he added.

Flintoff has not played a Test match for his country in 16 months after a fourth ankle operation kept him on the sidelines but Moore's was confident that he would be back to play again.

"Fortunately it sounds like it's a minor injury, quite a common one for bowlers, and hopefully he will get over it quickly and we'll see where we are from there," he told the Press Association.

Moores was pleased that the ankle, which has caused Flintoff problems in the past, appears to be problem free.

"That's very exciting and although his batting has been talked about a lot, batting can sometimes take a bit longer but we know what sort of player he is," he exlained.

The last time the Kiwis visited England they suffered a 2-0 Test series defeat and they must now compete without former captain Stephen Fleming who has retired and Shane Bond who has been banned for appearing in the Indian Cricket League.

But the Kiwis are also suffering from the disruption caused by the participation of five members of their squad in the Indian Premier League - a competition featuring none of the England squad.