Flintoff Near Return
Andrew Flintoff says he is almost ready to return to playing action for his county cricket side, Lancashire.
Flintoff has been out of action since the 2009 Ashes summer series that saw England win a second consecutive home series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746. Flintoff played a big role in that series and has been battling against fitness ever since.
Flintoff hit the headlines when he said he was rejecting a central contract from the England and Wales Cricket Board to effectively become a freelance cricket player. There are strong suggestions that he will never play for his country again and for now it seems that Lancashire is his sole focus.
There are many positives to Flintoff coming back in to the Lancashire team. However, we have seen this before and many will already be asking how long it will be before Flintoff picks up another injury, one which could end his career.
Positives
The main positive of Flintoff being in the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Lancashire-c806 team is that he carries a presence and a great deal of experience. He has played cricket all of the world and still remains one of Lancashire's best all around players.
He can use this knowledge to guide younger players in the team but also to help himself as he fights against his fitness to try and stay in the time for an extended period of time. He has said that he wants to play limited overs cricket for England again but cannot do this until he is playing regularly for Lancashire.
He remains one of the quickest bowlers in England. His bowling is far superior to his batting ability but the strain he puts on himself to create extra pace is what has led to his injuries in the past.
He said: "It's been a long road with the rehab since then but I'm hoping to play again in the next few weeks. I'm back in the nets at Lancashire and from nowhere I've found the ability to bat again which is encouraging. I'm hitting the ball."
Inconsistency
The problem with Flintoff's fitness has been his consistency. Once he has got back to some sort of fitness he has not been able to stay in shape for long enough to prevent another injury from happening.
He has had problems with his ankles, which keep on coming up because of the force that he puts through his body when he is bowling. However, Flintoff is not predicting that it will be a problem again.
He added: "It's only in the nets but with the break, I've come back playing and rather than worrying about where my feet go, my hands and my head and getting too technical, I've basically gone back to how I used to play when I was younger, just see the ball and hit it as hard as I can, and if I can't do that then I'll defend it."
Betting Advice
Any side that has Andrew Flintoff in it will stand a much better chance of doing well because of the quality and power that he possesses. The problem is that it's impossible to judge right now when he will play a first class game and how many he will play for.
There is a reason that he has kept getting injuries throughout his career and the same problems do not look as though they will go away any time soon. Your best option is to see how Flintoff plays in the first two or three games of his Lancashire return. This will allow you to judge the form he's in and whether he's worth backing over a run of games.
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