England may gamble on a pain-killer for Freddie

The all-rounder's prospects of playing in today's third NatWest Series match against India at Edgbaston dominated the buildup yesterday.

The soreness and stiffness in his right knee, which flared up during Friday's narrow defeat in Bristol, remained sufficiently pronounced to prevent the Lancastrian from bowling in practice, suggesting he is unlikely to be risked today.

However, Flintoff and the England medical staff will be hoping that a painkilling injection works wonders and allows him to resume where he left off in the last match, with a maiden five-wicket return in one-day international cricket.

He is understandably determined to keep playing, having spent more than enough time out of action this season following ankle surgery, but his decision on the matter may not be final.

Peter Moores, the national coach, presented mixed messages when pressed on the status of the injury yesterday - claiming he was optimistic that Flintoff would play, then arguing the merits of caution for the long-term good.

The overwhelming priority is to protect the player and ensure he is available for as many of the remaining five games in this series as possible.

"It's responded pretty well (to treatment) so far," said Moores. "It's not too sore, he has not bowled today but he had a bat and we'll see how he is in the morning. The physio seems to think it has gone well, we're quite positive, but we'll wait until tomorrow to make a call.

"There doesn't seem to be anything major wrong structurally, so with bit of anti-inflammatory to settle it down, hopefully it will be OK.

"He's very keen to play, as he would be. He's missed a lot of cricket and wants to get out there. I think we've got to make sure we just balance it over a long series.

"If we know there is no risk in him playing, then he'll play, but if the most sensible thing is for him to miss a game, and then carry on after that, we'll do it. We'll just make sure there's no pain and see if the swelling has gone down."

Asked if it would be hard to tell the team talisman that he would be left out, against his own wishes, the coach added: "Very, very (hard). Fred's played a lot of cricket, he knows his body, and you trust the player to a degree and take all opinions.

"He knows there is a lot of cricket to come, and he doesn't want to miss out on that. I think between Fred, myself and the medical team we'll make the right call."

When Flintoff left the field in Bristol on Friday, the cause of his discomfort was a mystery, but Moores admitted that it first became apparent in the series opener at the Rose Bowl.

"He had a little bit of pain after the first game, but nothing major. It came on a little bit more during the second game, and then afterwards it stiffened up. Sometimes you don't know the extent (of an injury) until the morning after, and it was a bit sore."

With doubts about Flintoff's fitness, Jon Lewis of Gloucestershire is on hand as bowling cover and Owais Shah could come into the equation.

England are almost certain to rejig their attack once more after conceding 329 runs at Bristol, with Monty Panesar expected to return in place of Chris Tremlett as the hosts seek to establish a 2-1 lead.

ENGLAND (from): Collingwood (capt), Bell, Prior (wkt), Shah, Pietersen, Flintoff, Bopara, Broad, Tremlett, Anderson, Panesar, Cook, Mascarenhas, Lewis.

INDIA (from): Dravid (capt), Tendulkar, Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Gambhir, Dhoni (wkt), Sharma, Chawla, Powar, Uthappa, Agarkar, Zaheer, Patel, Karthik, R Singh.

Umpires: B Doctrove (WI) £ M Benson (Eng).

Third umpire: P Hartley (Eng)

Match referee: R Mahanama (SL).

TV times: Sky Sports 1 from 10am.