Flintoff could play for Lancashire

Andrew Flintoff: facing a struggle for fitness © Getty Images

England have a glimmer of hope that Andrew Flintoff will be able to play in the third Test against West Indies at Old Trafford next week after all. He was ruled out for both of Lancashire's one-day matches this weekend on the advice of ECB medical staff, which suggested his recuperation wasn't going so well, but he could yet play a part in their Championship match which starts on Wednesday, May 31.

Flintoff came through a net session at Hove on the even of that match, and even bowled for half an hour. He will be re-assessed immediately prior to the game before a final decision is made on his participation in the tie against Sussex. If he passes a fitness assessment the Lancashire medical team prior, the ECB medical have confirmed they would be happy for him to play a part in the four-day match.

Peter Moores, England's coach, had been keen to give Flintoff's troublesome left ankle a trial run in one or other of the two one-day matches, before putting him through his paces in the Championship. But the decision to rest him entirely over the weekend had suggested a setback in his recovery. Even so, his hopes of playing at Old Trafford next week are still in the balance - and are all-but-quashed if he doesn't make it through the test.

Moores said England were still hopeful Flintoff might face West Indies in the third Test. "I know he wants to play so I will push the medical team to do the best they possibly can to get him fit enough," Moores told AFP. "Everyone wants a fit Andrew Flintoff.

"It has got to be guided a bit by the pain he has got, then somewhere along the line hopefully it's either going to go away, we decide it's manageable or they [the medical staff] will have to do something else.

"He bowled in the game against Hampshire recently and then got very sore quickly. The challenge is: was that a new injury? Is it something from the past? Will it go away over time? It's getting better, which is the promising thing, it's just whether it will be better in time for the Old Trafford Test. We don't know."

Flintoff has undergone two operations to remove bone spurs from his left ankle - the first during England's one-day series in South Africa in February 2005, and the second last summer, ahead of the Ashes and World Cup campaigns.