Flintoff flies into contention after Vaughan doubts grow

Within 24 hours of landing in Lahore, England's recalled Andrew Flintoff could find himself winning his tenth Test cap after injuries to Nasser Hussain's side continued to cause concern.

The young Lancashire all-rounder left Manchester today to fly to Lahore after receiving a phone call from coach Duncan Fletcher asking him to return immediately to Pakistan as cover for the injured batters.

But if Michael Vaughan, Craig White, Dominic Cork and Hussain succeed in coming through last minute examinations by physio Dean Conway in the run up to Wednesday's Test, the 22 year-old powerhouse will find himself sitting on the sidelines.

"We would only consider him if we were short of a batter," explained Fletcher.

"We considered another couple of players but Freddie (Flintoff) has been here, he's got cricket under his belt over the last couple of months, he's got a feel of the wickets and hopefully he is fit enough.

"We don't regret sending him home because we'd have had 17 players if we'd kept him on and even 16 on a short tour like this seems one too many.

"There is a problem with having so many guys around and trying to give them enough practice and matches because you want all the Test players to have a good knock and the others just get bored.

"We also had to weigh up the bowling we had and Tudor can cover for Cork or White. We have only two real quick bowlers and if one of them had gone down, who would have opened the bowling?"

Flintoff was sent home two week ago after it was decided he needed treatment on a long term back injury that prevented him from bowling in the one-day international series.

At the time, Fletcher made it clear Flintoff may be recalled and used as a specialist batsman if injuries to Test contenders cast doubt over their selection.

A place for Flintoff, who's sensational blast of 84 in 84 balls in the first one-day international made the headlines around the world, looked more likely after today's practice when Vaughan, who has a calf strain, was restricted to throw downs.

"He looked a little worse than he was today because of the strapping he wore to protect himself," Conway said.

"We strapped him in a way that was uncomfortable but he is struggling to be fit for the Test.

"We're going to hold the final decision until tomorrow and see how he goes overnight and give Michael every chance, but we're struggling for time with him."

The news for Craig White, who is carrying a hamstring injury looked alittle brighter after today's workout, Conway said.

"We're not expecting his injury to progress and we're just trying to nurse him through at the moment. Things went pretty well for him today and he has played and managed with it for the last couple of games."

Flintoff arives in Lahore in the early hours of tomorrow moning and will join the rest of the England squad for training at the Colonel Gaddafi stadium a few hours later.