Arthur - I'd play Freddie

Arthur: Flintoff praise

Flintoff certainly gives the England attack a different flavour because he has got that bustling pace. It will be tempting to play him if he is fighting fit.

Mickey Arthur
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South African coach Mickey Arthur insists he "will not be surprised" if England recall Andrew Flintoff for the first Test between the sides at Lord's on July 10.

Flintoff is striving to prove his fitness in time for the four-Test series against the Proteas in the current LV County Championship clash between Lancashire and Sussex at Hove.

Arthur believes selecting Flintoff in the side for the series opener would be a gamble worth taking, despite the talismanic all-rounder not featuring for England's Test side for 18 months.

The England selectors will announce the side for the first Test on Thursday - in addition to the 30-man squad for the Champions Trophy in Pakistan in September.

Tempting

Arthur said: "Flintoff certainly gives the England attack a different flavour because he has got that bustling pace. It will be tempting to play him if he is fighting fit.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he came straight back in. I think he is a quality, quality cricketer. I think Flintoff coming back strengthens England.

"But I wouldn't want to be selecting the side because I am not sure if you can bank on him coming straight back in and giving the amount of overs a Stuart Broad or a James Anderson would.

"So then he really has to take the place of one of the top six. That is what they have got to weigh up. I am not sure they will get the balance right there.

"But if I had a Flintoff, I'd have him back. It might be a gamble but Peter Moores knows what he is doing. He will assess things but when you've got a quality player like him available, you'll want to pick him."

South Africa's opening warm-up encounter against Somerset ended in a draw at Taunton, and the Proteas coach insisted he was delighted with the workout his side were given in the South West.

Intensity

"I think we have got everything we wanted," said Arthur. "We couldn't have scripted it better. We wanted to build our bowlers up and we've got another three-day game before the Test.

"We didn't want to overbowl them because there is a day off tomorrow and then probably not another until the day after the Headingley Test match.

"I think we've got exactly what we wanted. You probably get more intensity in two-day warm-up games because you bat for one day and bowl for one day.

"The third day tends to drag on a bit but we are very happy where we are at the moment."

"Our focus is on July 10 and everything we do leading up to that is about getting ready for that day."