Flintoff on course to make good recovery

Andrew Flintoff could return to action earlier than expected according to a report in The Mirror, a London newspaper. The England allrounder missed the one-day series against South Africa to have surgery on a bone ankle injury so that he could recover in time for the Ashes which start in July.

"We are in touch with Freddie two or three times a week," England's chief medical officer Dr Peter Gregory told The Mirror on Thursday, "and his recovery is going well. The operation was a success and, as was planned, we are looking for him to play some cricket before he faces Australia."

Flintoff has been expected to be out for four months, but he is recovering ahead of schedule and has flown to Portugal to link up with Lancashire in a pre-season training camp. There is even the chance that he could play championship cricket for as early as April 13 when they face Somerset.

If he did return then, he would play only as a batsman, at first. "Fred will start playing again as a batsman," Lancashire's coach, Mike Watkinson, confirmed on the county's website. "When he bowls, and how much, will be up to him." But even if Flintoff plays some domestic cricket he is still unlikely to play in the Test series against Bangladesh which starts in May.

Andrew Flintoff is confident that he will recover from ankle surgery in time for the start of the season. England's allrounder Flintoff will undergo an operation on a bone spur that has been troubling him for a while.