Arthur - Pressure on England

Arthur: thinks Flintoff should be playing at Lord's

Within the whole pressure cooker of Test cricket, there might be one or two little personal contests going on in the England side.

Mickey Arthur
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England v South Africa
First Test, Lord's, July 10-14
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South Africa coach Mickey Arthur has stoked up the pressure on England by suggesting their decision not to pick Andrew Flintoff for the series-opener at Lord's (Jul 10-14) is a huge mistake.

Arthur believes fit-again all-rounder Flintoff should have been included by England as 'he's too good a player not to be picked' and his absence means 'there might be one or two personal contests going on in the England side'.

England are expected to name the same starting XI for the sixth successive match, the first time any side has done that in Test history.

Chris Tremlett is part of a 12-man squad along with the players who have been on duty for a run that includes four wins and a draw, covering home-and away series successes over the Kiwis. Barring any late injuries, Tremlett will be surplus to requirements.

"The 'Freddie' Flintoff factor lingers over England - because he's too good a player not to be picked," said Arthur on Tuesday.

"If you've got a class performer, a fantastic cricketer like him available to you, I think you'd be silly not to select him.

"He's got to come back - and he's got to come back for somebody. Somebody will be unlucky.

"Within the whole pressure cooker of Test cricket, there might be one or two little personal contests going on in the England side."

Arthur singled out England's middle-order pair Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood, who were both short of runs during the first half of the summer, as the two most under pressure.

"I think it is obvious that at five and six, those two players will be under pressure," he added.

"If we can get into five and six when the ball is pretty new, that will be pretty good - and I think there will be one bowler bowling with a cloud over him, knowing that Flintoff is probably going to be fit for the second Test."

No sideshows

Arthur was also keen to discount the possibility of South Africa becoming embroiled in any Kevin Pietersen-themed "sideshows" this summer.

Pietersen, who is playing against the land of his birth for the first time in Tests, described Proteas skipper Graeme Smith as 'a muppet' in his autobiography.

But Arthur insists neither Smith nor any of his players will be tempted to revisit old disagreements.

"Yesterday we had a huge discussion on that - and we're not going to get involved in any sideshows," he explained.

"We don't want to be fighting with the opposition and therefore ultimately fighting with ourselves.

"We want to do everything well and with aggression - but that does not mean fighting and getting involved in any sideshows.

"We don't want to be saying too much at all in the series; we want to let our body language and bat and ball do the talking.

"Graeme is pretty adamant he's not going to get involved, and I don't think any of our players will either.

"In fact, there is a lot of respect for Kevin in our dressing room. Those personal issues between Kevin and Graeme, certainly for Graeme, are water under the bridge.

"It's finished and done and dusted."

Arthur highlighted the lack of a 90mph fast bowler in the England ranks as a weakness.

"When I was doing my planning for the series, what I thought England lack is an out-and-out 'quick' - someone like a guy like Flintoff or (Steve) Harmison," he added.

"I know any captain wants an out-and-out quick in their set-up. I thought the England attack were very steady, could do a really good job as a unit, but might have lacked genuine pace."