England play down the Flintoff factor

But captain Michael Vaughan summed up his sense of anticipation after having to make do without Flintoff for 18 months by saying: "I'm sure teams around the world would rather play us without 'Freddie' in our side."

The decision about whether Flintoff returns at No6 in place of Paul Collingwood or slots in further down the order as one of only four front-line bowlers in the Second Test may be left until Friday morning, allowing Vaughan and coach Peter Moores time to assess pitch and overhead conditions in Leeds.

But it seems inconceivable that the 30-year-old all-rounder will not step forward this week to play his first Test since early January 2007 when England's Ashes whitewash was completed - under his leadership - in Sydney.

"It is the right time to bring him back into the squad," said Moores after South Africa batted out a draw at Lord's. "But it's going to be a very tough decision as to who we go in with because everyone has played very good cricket for the last three or four months.

"We've had the same side for six Tests, we won four out of the first five and then, at Lord's, we dominated. This is a good team and they're playing well.

"We are in a good position knowing we've got someone like Freddie coming back from a long-term injury to add strength to the squad and give us some decent headaches as selectors."

Flintoff's reappearance on the Test stage will have many cricket fans anticipating instant miracles - something the England captain was keen to avoid.

"I think it's a bit unfair to build him up too much," warned Vaughan. "He has had 18 months out of Test cricket, come back for Lancashire and done reasonably well but he's not a wizard - he's not going to come and sprinkle (magic) dust. He will just perform how he can.

"He just needs to be able to bowl like he can and hopefully whack it like he does, and try to get his level of performance back to what it was before. But 18 months is a long time out of the game and it might take him a little bit of time to adjust."

If Flintoff was not so popular, his reappearance might spark resentment among a team that has won four of their last six matches but they welcomed him back with open arms when he joined them during the build up to the Lord's Test.

"He has that bit of X-factor about him," said Vaughan.