Flintoff 50 in practice match

Andrew Flintoff hit a 50 for England in their Champion’s Trophy warm-up match, but will not bowl until the first Test in Brisbane.

He scored 59 from 53 balls from number three as England comfortably defeated a Rajashtan Cricket Board XI. Also in the runs were Ian Bell and Jamie Dalrymple, who hit 53 and 79 respectively. After scoring 295 in the practice match where they used 13 players, the bowlers dismissed the Board XI for just 151.

Despite the promising sings shown by Flintoff’s batting, Duncan Fletcher is being cautious about when the star will bowl competitively again. Is an interview with TV station Sky Sports News the England coach said: “Andrew has been out for some time and he looks like he is raring to go, we are going to have to be careful that we don’t try and bring him back bowling too soon. I don’t think he’ll be bowling pretty soon. It’s difficult to say when he will bowl. It’s very, very important that he can bowl flat out in Brisbane.”

Fletcher gave no indication whether Flintoff would open the batting in the Champion’s Trophy saying when asked about the rumours: “We will sit down and have some discussions about the line-up. We will have a meeting and just settle on that.” With Flintoff batting at three today though, it looks as if the selectors might use today’s pairing of Strauss and Bell at the top of the order.