Andrew Flintoff will have a lot on his plate when the Ashes series kicks off, feels Ricky Ponting © Getty Images Enlarge

Glenn McGrath and Ricky Ponting have raised doubts about whether Andrew Flintoff will be able to focus on his batting and bowling while captaining England at the same time during the Ashes series which begins in November. Flintoff was handed the captaincy after Michael Vaughan, the victorious captain in the previous Ashes in 2005, was forced to skip the tour due to a knee injury.

"It's a massive ask, there's no doubt about it," McGrath told The Sydney Morning Herald. "He's such a key player, not only with their bowling, but in the field and in the batting. So if you throw the captaincy on top of it, maybe it will take the focus off his bowling and batting a little bit more and onto the captaincy and have an effect on his game. But he's a class player, and if anyone can handle it, he can."

Ponting shared McGrath's view that captaincy would only serve as an additional burden for Flintoff. "Freddie [Flintoff] is going to have a lot on his plate now," Ponting said. "Even for me, last year in that Ashes series, we were kept pretty busy as captains. He's got to do extra training because he's an allrounder as well, so it will all mount up on him."

Flintoff was one of the pillars of England's Ashes triumph in 2005, scoring over 400 runs, apart from being the leading wicket-taker for his side. However, injury worries had prevented him from taking an active part in England's home series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Now in the final stages of an ankle rehabilitation program, he had said recently that he had not ruled out bowling in the upcoming Champions Trophy in India, though he was originally expected to play purely as a batsman.