'It's something I'm excited about' - Flintoff

Andrew Flintoff insisted that his team is focused solely on the Champions Trophy, brushing aside suggestions that it was just another tournament ahead of one of the most-hyped Ashes in recent times.

"Two years ago, we reached the final in the Champions Trophy and we want to do it again," he said while addressing the media at New Delhi's Le Meridian Hotel.

Having been put to pasture for close to four months, owing to a wonky ankle, Flintoff reiterated that he was eager, almost desperate, to play."Hopefully we can go further this time. It's something I'm excited about. Having missed it a hell of a lot, want to get back on the pitch and play again. Sometimes, you tend to take cricket for granted."

The start of his pre-tournament press conference coincided with the Champions Trophy kick-off, as Bangladesh took on Sri Lanka in the opening qualifying game at Mohali.

They might have entered the final last time around, but neither England nor West Indies are tipped to go all the way this time. England's one-day form in recent years has been poor - having won just six of their last 26 ODIs. Their recent fightback against Pakistan, when they levelled the series 2-2, somewhat made amends for a miserable phase when they endured 14 defeats in 15 games against major opposition.

"West Indies and us got into the final last time and we've got to go out there confident and believe we can beat other top teams as well," Flintoff continued. "In the summer, we came back from 2-0 down against Pakistan and that was fantastic. We have talent in the side, young players and the one thing we got to strive for is consistency. We need to try and string a lot of victories together."

Lack of consistency hurt them during their tour to India earlier this year, when they were thumped 5-1 in the one-day series. Flintoff, though, preferred to build on the lessons from that tour. "We played some good cricket in the one-say series and put India under pressure at times. But we couldn't see it home many times. We gained experience about pitches and conditions. We're in a tough group and have a chance to play some good cricket against the top teams in the world."

With the Ashes defence beckoning, it might have been tempting for England to preserve Flintoff and get him back into full fitness, but the man himself seemed to think otherwise. "My fitness has been good. I haven't played a great deal of cricket in the last 13-14 weeks, about ten-and-a-half weeks after the operation. My body's responded well to training. It's an opportunity to get outside, bowl in the nets, and push myself more and more. We have a week before the first game. I've been batting at home in the nets and since I haven't played a lot, I need to get the cobwebs out."

Flintoff won't be the only one dusting cobwebs. This tournament will provide a chance for Stephen Harmison and James Anderson to get themselves fine-tuned for the Ashes. There will also be a return for Ashley Giles, who won't play in any of the games but get a chance for rehabilitation. "It's great to have Giles back," Flintoff beamed. "He's a popular member of the squad and he's been a stellar performer for sometime. I've missed a bit of cricket, but he's missed a lot. He's desperate to get back on the pitch, desperate to play. He's someone I like having around, as a friend and as a cricketer."

England start the tournament with two high-voltage games - taking on hosts India at Jaipur before locking horns with Australia. Surprisingly, it's been the latter who they've had more success against in recent times. Duncan Fletcher, England's coach, spoke about the importance of the Australia clash, on October 21 at Jaipur. "We've played consistently against Australia since the last ICC Champions Trophy," he said when asked about the Twenty20 game last summer that set the tone for the historic Ashes triumph. " That set the mark and since then we've shown improvement against them. So it will be nice to continue that record."