ANDREW FLINTOFF will be with the Lancashire squad arriving at Riverside today, but is not expected to play in the championship match against Durham.
As he continues to build his fitness in the hope of being ready for the Ashes series, starting on July 6, it is likely that Flintoff will be spotted in the nets or working with the Lancashire coaching staff in the middle during intervals.
Head coach Peter Moores said: “Fred has worked very hard over the past six weeks and his recovery has gone better than some people expected.
He is in the final stages of his rehabilitation, and over the past four days he has spent time batting and bowling, each time increasing the duration and intensity of these sessions.
“The decision on whether he is ready to return to competitive cricket is not down to me. I’ll let the medical staff make that call. If they say he can play, then we will sort something out.”
This match will be the last in Lancashire colours this season for South African batsman Ashwell Prince as VVS Laxman arrives in Manchester this weekend and will play against Hampshire at Liverpool next week, when Flintoff is expected to make his comeback.
Durham will field the lineup which beat Hampshire by an innings and 110 runs, moving them up to third place, one point behind Lancashire.
With Nottinghamshire on top, all the signs are that the three strongest squads occupy the top three places, so this is a crucial game and Moores said: “Durham had an impressive win against Hampshire and are always extremely tough to play at home.
“But we have a good away record this season, having already beaten Sussex and Worcestershire on the road.”
Mal Loye, a prolific scorer against Durham in recent seasons, has just returned to the Lancashire team after injury.
However, Lancashire will find the Durham bowling much more potent than the Somerset attack which restricted the Red Rose men to 286 at Old Trafford this week.
As Steve Harmison continues his improvement he will be fired up by the very presence of Flintoff, while Graham Onions is comfortably the leading first-class wickettaker in the country with 35.
His six for 58 in Hampshire’s second innings was his fourth five-wicket haul of the season, doubling his tally since making his debut in 2004.
DURHAM: W R Smith (capt), M J Di Venuto, M D Stoneman, G J Muchall, D M Benkenstein, I D Blackwell, P Mustard, C D Thorp, M E Claydon, G Onions, S J Harmison.
LANCASHIRE (from): G Chapple (capt), P Horton, T Smith, M Loye, A Prince, F du Plessis, M Chilton, L Sutton, S Mahmood, O Newby, G Keedy, K Hogg
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