Flintoff will not be rested, says Moores
Andrew Flintoff has been struggling with his left ankle
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Saturday, 15, Sep 2007 09:32
England coach Peter Moores has insisted that he would not play Andrew Flintoff in the World Twenty20 if he felt the all-rounder's participation would cause further damage to his troublesome left ankle.
Flintoff had a third operation on his ankle in the summer and missed the Test series against the West Indies and India. He returned for the one-dayers against India but had to be given a cortisone injection to his ankle to play in the final game.
The 29-year-old played in England's game against Australia yesterday, and although he top-scored with 31 and had bowling figures of 1 for 25, Flintoff winced with pain every time he bowled.
"If at any stage we thought we were damaging it or making it worse, he wouldn’t play," said Moores.
"That is the basic premise everyone is working towards. He’s getting through and it’s manageable so they can look at different ways of rehab and strengthening it as we go along."
Moores also dismissed suggestions that Flintoff should be rested for a few games and even tournaments like the World Twenty20 in order to prolong his career.
"At the moment I do know that Fred [Flintoff] wants to play cricket. He could aggravate it here but he could aggravate it at the next tournament, so you have to find out," said Moores.
"You can wrap him up and leave him but they've got to find out and I think that's common sense. His ankle needs managing, there's no doubt about that, but this is quite a good tournament for us to be able to test out where we are with him.
"He has four-over spells. It's a short form of the game and we can control it and look at it so at the end of every game we do that," added Moores.