Andrew Flintoff insists he is not worrying about reclaiming his England place after their impressive recent form.
England all-rounder not worried about international place
Andrew Flintoff insists he is not worrying about reclaiming his England place after the impressive recent form of the limited overs side.
England's one-day side has been on top form of late with success in the ICC World Twenty20 in the Caribbean followed by taking an unassailable 3-0 lead over Australia in their 50-over series.
Flintoff, who retired from Test cricket after last summer's Ashes series and has not played since due to a career-threatening knee injury, is aiming to return to county action for Lancashire in the next few weeks.
The 32-year-old could now struggle to get his place back in the one-day side even if his comeback is successful, but he insists he is only focused on getting back onto the pitch.
"We'll see, it's not something that I'm too worried about," said Flintoff. "My purpose now is to get onto a cricket field, performing for Lancashire and helping them.
Wait and see
"At this moment in time I'm just trying to play first and foremost. Once I've been out there, we'll see where I'm at and take it from there."
Flintoff admits the standards have gone up and feels England are looking as confident as ever.
"They are doing well and they have improved," Flintoff said. "It's a new-look team with a few different faces in there and they are playing with a lot of confidence.
"They had a very good winter and a highlight was winning the Twenty20 World Cup. Every time they take to the field, they look like they believe they are going to win."
Flintoff took part in training with his Lancashire team-mates today and expects to be able to give an exact date for his competitive return soon.
Training
"I've been out in Dubai, got back two days ago and I've been at Old Trafford this morning," he said.
"I had a bat in the nets with the coach Peter Moores and I've been with the lads doing warm-ups and various things before the game against Yorkshire.
"Hopefully I'm going into the last phase of my rehab. The next thing is that I will probably go and see the specialist just to get the all-clear so I can start bowling, not at full tilt but just so that I can start going through the actions.
"But having a bat this morning, I was hitting them all right, so it's encouraging. The timeline (for coming back) is the end of July or start of August and I still think that is the case.
"I can't say I'm going to be fit for this game, or that is a definite game I'll play in, but I think maybe in two weeks' time I might be in a position to do that."
