Moores cautious over Flintoff time frame
England coach Peter Moores says that Andrew Flintoff won't be rushed back into the fold after he underwent a fourth ankle operation last week
Cricinfo staff
14-Oct-2007
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"There has been a positive from the operation (which) is the fact they found something," Moores told BBC Radio 5Live's Sportsweek programme. "It has been really frustrating for Andrew over the last two months that he had pain, but they did not really know what it was.
"I do not want to put a time frame on it because it is not something we want to rush and want to make sure it is right. We want to get him fit to play and in the right form. At the moment there is the target of getting back for the domestic summer in England, and hopefully that will go well.
"There will be a period of rehabilitation he will have to go through, building the strength up and so on and we will keep an eye on the progress."
However, Moores added that he didn't feel Flintoff needed to make drastic changes to his action in order to relieve the strain on his left ankle. "There is not any evidence that would make the ankle feel better anyway. The idea is to get the ankle fit and stronger. Andrew can bowl with the action he has got.
"Foot position, which is talked about a lot, Andrew can alter that himself so it's slightly more aligned anyway, and he did that during the Twenty20 series anyway."
But Ian Botham, who has made some of loudest calls for Flintoff to remodel his bowling, continued to insist it was the only way for him to sustain his career.
"I think Andrew is worried about it, and quite rightly," he told Sportsweek. "What he is going to have to do is straighten that front foot up and get it almost chest-on. If he can do that, then I think we can get a bit more out of Freddie - but the ankle is a real worry."