Flintoff flies home to work on fitness

England's battered and injury-stricken squad received another huge blow when Andrew Flintoff's battle to prove his fitness for this month's VB one-day series and the final two Ashes Test matches came to a sudden end this morning, when the selectors decided that the Lancashire all-rounder would have to go home.

After a three-month fight to get Flintoff fit, it appears the patience of the England captain, Nasser Hussain, and his coach, Duncan Fletcher, has finally run out. Flintoff, who had a double hernia operation at the end of August, struggled to recover his fitness. But for a couple of one-day games last week in Sydney he has never looked in shape since arriving in Australia.

In reaction to the news, Flintoff said: "It is not quite right, and I am not doing anybody any favours by playing not fully fit. I'm returning home as soon as possible with a view to seeing medical people in England agains and getting myself fit for the World Cup."

With that tournament coming along in February, England will be desperate for Flintoff to play some competitive cricket in the new year. As things stand, he is unlikely to return here after spending Christmas at home, but should his recovery progress quicker than expected, the all-rounder could return to Australia for the second round of one-day games in the new year. That is not, however, the expected outcome.

Only yesterday Hussain was pondering what course of action the selectors and the medical staff should take with the 25-year-old.He suggested that Flintoff could have played in tomorrow's day-night game against Australia here, but said wondered if throwing him into that battle would have been the right thing to do.

"Would it happen in any other form of professional sport? Would someone half-fit be playing? Would this Australian side play someone half-fit? These are the questions we have to answer," Hussain said. "Is it right for Andrew to play like he is or is he such a crucial member of our side that we need him to play like he is? These are all difficult decisions for the medical people and the four selectors."

Given that, as Hussain said, Flintoff could deliver only about four or five overs to his full potential at present, the decision to send him home must be the right one. The all-rounder, who hopefully has a long career ahead of him, had looked a tortured soul in the field at Canberra during the defeat by the Prime Minister's XI, it is wise to err on the side of caution at this stage.