Strauss not worried about Flintoff setback
Andrew Flintoff key to England winning the Ashes
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Tuesday, 30, Jun 2009 09:30
England captain Andrew Strauss has insisted he has no problem with Andrew Flintoff, despite the all-rounder getting in to trouble again.
Flintoff was disciplined by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for missing a bus which took the players to the cemeteries of British victims of world war one in Belgium. Strauss though claimed it wasn't a big problem as a number of his team-mates were having punctuality problems.
When it comes to Flintoff, the indiscretion is magnified due to his past problems while playing for England, most notably when he fell of a pedalo during the 2007 World Cup.
"This is a time keeping thing," said Strauss. "Of course there have been instances with Fred before, but for us to start looking back at that would be completely wrong at this stage. He feels bad about missing the bus.
"We had a team dinner, alcohol wasn't banned but there's no reason to think anything untoward happened.
"One of the things fundamental to my captaincy is to give guys responsibility to act in a way they know will help them play good cricket, so it's up to Fred what he does but I've got no reason to suspect that will be an issue."
Although it is unknown what kind of punishment Flintoff faced, Struass has warned his players that the England camp will have no hesitation in dropping a player if they "transgress badly enough".