Patience is key to Flintoff comeback
6:20am Saturday 7th November 2009 in Sport By Graham Hardcastle
ANDREW Flintoff admits it may be unrealistic to target England’s one-day tour to Bangladesh in February for his comeback from knee surgery.
It has been nearly 12 weeks since the 31-year-old Lancashire all-rounder went under the knife in the latest attempt to cure his troublesome right knee.
He will see his surgeon and have a scan early next week before flying back to his training base in Dubai.
“I’ve been off crutches for a week and a half to two weeks now, which has been great,” he said. “I can’t run yet, but I’ve started gentle cycling and spent a lot of time in the pool.
“Hopefully, when I’ve seen the surgeon, I can progress more and start running again. I want to get back as soon as I can, but I can’t put a date on it yet. Before the op or just after, I said that I’d like to go to Bangladesh with the England one-day squad. That might be unrealistic.”
Flintoff was at Old Trafford yesterday speaking enthusiastically about his future with Lancashire after signing a three-year contract to play one-day cricket for the county.
“I’ve been at the club since I was nine, and I don’t want to play anywhere else in county cricket,” he said. “I’ve not played for them too much for seven or eight years due to central contracts, so it would be nice to win a trophy here. I’ve only won two medals with Lancashire, and I’ve been at this club for a long time. I want to add to that.”
Flintoff was flanked by cricket director Mike Watkinson and coach Peter Moores, who is convinced he can be the catalyst for honours both at home and abroad.
“To add him to what is already a very good one-day side will be great,” Moores said. “We want to win all competitions, but there is another carrot for winning Twenty20. The first challenge is to win it domestically, but then you go into an international competition (Champions League). It takes the game to another level.
“When you play in big games like that, you need as many big-game players as you can get. Andrew Flintoff is one of those.”
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