Flintoff returns in mood to make power pay off

England's talisman moves up the batting order to take early command

Flintoff practices ahead of the ICC Trophy in Jaipur

Andrew Flintoff sounded chipper and looked serene last night as he prepared to lead England into the first match of their long winter. He revealed, almost as he was leaving the room, that on his return to the side after four months and 14 matches he will bat at No 3 against India.

He did not give much else away, and if all goes entirely according to plan for Flintoff and England over the next six months it is possible that he will not give much away before 31 other international matches: in the Champions Trophy, which begins for real today; the Ashes; the VB Series; and the World Cup.

Fred is a man of actions more than words when it comes to speaking to the massed ranks of the press, and they are nowhere more massed than in India. Despite the invitation, there was no great rallying call issuing forth from his lips as he contemplated India today and then the winter ahead.

"It will be nice to start off playing well," he said, dead-batting. "It's an important match against India in an important tournament. But there's a lot of cricket coming up, and I wouldn't read too much into it for the rest of the winter."

The decision to bat at three, however, is redolent of his status as man of deeds. It reaffirmed the suspicion, worrying to some, that as captain, if a job needs doing he will do it.

It also demonstrates that England are anxious to score quickly not only in the first 10 overs but also everywhere else in their innings, and giving Flintoff potentially longer at the crease presents the best chance of this happening. That it has taken until now to get round to it shows that they might have been treading water.

It is a plan also imbued with risk, since Flintoff at five has scored 1,448 of his one-day runs at a strike rate of above 90. He will now often be going in against the swinging ball, something he will have to become accustomed to swiftly.

"I'm keen to do it and feel I can do it," he said. "I've got a bit more experience and confidence about my game and feel I can go up the order now. When I'm bowling again I still feel I can do it and it's something that won't be ruled out."

It means, of course, that England are expecting Flintoff to do at three what Ricky Ponting does for Australia, what Mohammad Yousuf does for Pakistan, what Kumar Sangakkara does for Sri Lanka. He will have to hit the ground running and ignore the paltry 118 runs he registered previously there in seven innings. But it is true: that move was born out of hope, this was born out of experience.

That Flintoff is back anywhere is a cause almost for national rejoicing. It is not that England did badly without him, if the 5-0 drubbing against Sri Lanka were to be discounted. They beat Pakistan 3-0 in a Test series and then pulled back to 2-2 in the one-dayers. But they need Flintoff badly.

He seems ready for all this. On Friday afternoon after England had trained, Fred was having a rub-down. He was the lad from Preston on a makeshift treatment table at the Academy ground, Jaipur, draped in a towel, quaffing water and exchanging badinage with his mates. But, watching this cosy scene, the thought occurred that he might for all the world have been Apollo on Mount Olympus sipping the ambrosia of the gods.

The Flintoff body is truly a temple now. It is sculpted, as are his features. He has worked harder running on the Lancashire moors these past few months than Wilson of the Wizard used to do on the Yorkshire equivalents. Maybe he is more Wilson than Apollo.

"I am very happy with my side," he said. "It's strong and it has a lot of flexibility in it. We have a lot of different permutations in the batting order, and with Jamie Dalrymple and Mike Yardy as all-rounders that adds something else."

There is still the question of the Flintoff ankle. The rate of recovery from the most recent bout of surgery suggests that he must have been bathing it in some mysterious moorland herbal concoction after his early-morning runs. But he is determined not to bowl too soon.

"I've bowled in the nets at 75 per cent but I'm not going to rush back. When it's right to bowl, I'll bowl. We've got to keep pushing it on a daily basis, a weekly basis. The ankle has responded well to everything I've done since the operation."

Fred was not saying much, but it was easy to interpret. The ankle will be ready, come hell, high water and secret remedies, for him to bowl flat-out at Brisbane on 21 November.

Yesterday's play: Maharoof plays the destroyer

A spectacular West Indies batting collapse and the best bowling figures in the ICC Trophy's short history mean that England's final group opponents will be Brian Lara's team rather than Sri Lanka.

Farveez Maharoof, the Sri Lankan medium-pacer, was the undoubted star of a hopelessly one-sided final qualification match in Bombay, taking 6 for 14 as West Indies, who won the toss, were skittled for 80 in 30.4 overs. And, despite losing Upul Tharanga to the opening ball of their reply, Sri Lanka cruised to their target, finishing on 83 for 1 off just 13.2 overs, with opener Sanath Jayasuriya (45) and captain Mahela Jayawardene (34) the unbeaten batsmen.

The win means Sri Lanka join the group containing Pakistan, South Africa and New Zealand, with West Indies facing a tougher task against England, Australia and hosts India in Group A.

Amazingly, the West Indies' plight could have been much worse but for Wavell Hinds. His share of his team's meagre total was a 28 off 86 balls - hard-earned and much-needed runs as West Indies failed to recover after losing their first two wickets to the new-ball swing of Chaminda Vaas and one to the pace of Lasith Malinga.

Then, after the fleeting encouragement of a 38-run stand between Hinds and Lara, Maharoof took over. His first, and most important, wicket was Lara who was trapped lbw - as was Dwayne Bravo for the third of four ducks at that point soon afterwards. Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Smith fell for one run between them and were followed by Carlton Baugh and finally Hinds as Maharoof became the first man to take six wickets in the competition.