Steve Harmison will once again turn to Newcastle United to get fit if he is ruled out for the rest of the county season.

The Durham and England paceman will undergo a scan next week on the back injury that ruled him out of his club's Friends Provident Trophy final victory over Hampshire.

Harmison previously trained with the Magpies a few years ago when he had a similar problem and he told Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme: ''I'm having a scan next week and that will give us the diagnosis of when I will be able to play again.

''Hopefully, I play before the end of the season.

''If not, I'd like to go back into Newcastle and do some more training, making sure I'm fit and ready to go for the Sri Lanka Test matches.

''I've got a strong connection with the club and they've always been very good to me.''

While Harmison is out, Andrew Flintoff returns to international duty this week determined to make amends for his off-field mistakes which contributed to England's dismal World Cup campaign this winter.

At 29-years-old and entering his third World Cup, the stage was set for Flintoff to become one of the stars of the tournament but instead he struggled throughout the event as England crashed out.

His role in the drinking exploits of St Lucia also cost him the England vice-captaincy while he was dropped for the first time in his career for disciplinary reasons.

He returned from the Caribbean desperate to restore his reputation but another setback with his troublesome left ankle led to another operation and he has not been seen in an England tracksuit since.

But after meeting up with England's squad for the seven-match NatWest series against India, he said: "I think the m for me was how I was playing and the things that had happened when I got injured.

''The quickest and best way for me to rectify those things was getting back out on the field and performing and I was not given that chance through injury, but now I'm here, I'm fit and I'm looking forward to playing.

''I've been on another rehab programme getting my ankle right and it's nice to be back in England colours, albeit a tracksuit at this moment in time.''

His last appearance for England on home soil was the final Test against Sri Lanka at Trent Bridge over a year ago.