England may reinforce Ashes squad

Either Craig White or Alex Tudor could be called into the England Ashes squad should they decide to look outside the existing party for a replacement for Andrew Flintoff.

The England coach, Duncan Fletcher, announced today that Flintoff is to receive further treatment on his hernia injury at the Australian cricket academy in Adelaide.

"Although Andrew's recovery programme is running behind schedule at present, we remain confident that he will be able to take part in the Ashes series," Fletcher said.

"However, our physio Kirk Russell has a heavy workload at present due to the number of injuries in the squad and we feel that the medical team at the Academy are best placed to give Andrew the intensive one-to-one treatment he needs if he is to be fit for the first Test in Brisbane.

"Other players are around in Australia, practising, and if the injuries don't work out, we may have to make a decision to bring them in. We'll make that decision over the next four or five days."

Tudor, who celebrates his 25th birthday today, has taken 26 wickets at 31.5 in nine Tests. The Surrey fast bowler narrowly missed selection in the original squad after an up-and-down summer against Sri Lanka and India that was interrupted by shin splints.

White was another of the summer's injury victims, suffering a side strain that prevented him from bowling after he had batted impressively against India, scoring an unbeaten 94 at Trent Bridge.

If he is now fit to bowl, White's all-round credentials are the stronger. Although Tudor made an unbeaten 99 against New Zealand three years ago, White's Test average of nearly 25 fits him more closely to the vital number seven slot which is will be at issue if Flintoff does not recover in time for Brisbane.

Three recuperating England players, Flintoff, Michael Vaughan and Darren Gough, missed the opening game of England's tour against an Australian Cricket Board (ACB) Chairman's XI, which the tourists lost by 58 runs in Perth.

"Vaughan has a very good chance of playing in the next three-day match against Queensland, starting in Brisbane on November 2," Fletcher told a news conference.

"Gough is pretty positive. He has bowled on each of the past two days and there has been no reaction. He is feeling pretty bullish at this stage. We don't want to push him too soon. We'll just have to wait and see. We won't know whether he is ready for the Test unless he is ready for the Brisbane three-day game."

Fletcher dealt succinctly with a question about whether England should have brought so many injured players on tour against the world's top-ranked side.

"Should we have left them at home then?" he said.

England next match is over two days against Western Australia in Perth, starting tomorrow.