ANDY Flintoff believes Lancashire have a real chance of challenging Surrey for the Championship this summer - and is determined to play his part while he can.

Flintoff and James Anderson have been cleared by England to play in the opening game against the champions at the Oval starting on Good Friday, and also hope to be available to face Notts at Old Trafford next week.

"It's a great game to start off with," said Flintoff. "Surrey are the team everyone is trying to follow but we've got some good ones ourselves. I don't want to put too much pressure on them but we have more strength in depth, and if we can get off to a good start we've got every chance this year."

Flintoff reckons the signings of Mal Loye from Northants and Iain Sutcliffe from Leicester will give Lancashire's batting a huge boost, while the

emergence of Kyle Hogg, Sajid Mahmoud and of course Anderson gives them a huge range of pace bowling options.

They are set to hit Surrey with the formidable quartet of Anderson, Flintoff, Glen Chapple and Peter Martin this week, easing the disappointment

of missing out on Muttiah Muralitharan as a short-term replacement for the injured Harbhajan Singh.

The Oval has been the stage for two of Flintoff's best batting performances - a murderous century in a NatWest Trophy quarter final three years ago, and another in the Championship last season, in his only four-day appearance for Lancashire of the whole summer.

"I actually get more nervous playing for Lancashire than I do for England," he added. "You come back for a game here and there, and the nerves are jangling.

"I want to give something back to Lancashire, they've been very good to me over the years. I'd love to captain them one day when I'm a bit older."

Flintoff himself feels "in great nick." "I started hitting a bit of form towards the end of the World Cup, and since I've been back I've been training hard."