Flintoff risks joint venture

Flintoff admitted he faces an uncertain future after suffering further discomfort in a joint that has been operated on three times, but he is still unsure about the diagnosis of bowling consultant Donald, who insists that England's talisman must remodel his action to avoid further damage.

Donald, back in his home country with England, is adamant that change is the only course of action for Flintoff — with further surgery seemingly ruled out.

"I think the consensus of the medical team is that he's got to change his action," said Donald, whose contract with England is up for renewal after this tournament.

"We need to do this slowly, step by step. When you change something technically it's hard work but he's a very high-class cricketer and I think he can do it."

Flintoff, whose left foot points inwards on impact, increasing the strain on his ankle, is not convinced.

He arrived here with England unsure if he will be fit to face Zimbabwe at Newlands tomorrow but hoping that the steroid injection he had last week to ease the inflammation will be a more effective cure.

"Lots of things are being talked about, like tinkering with my bowling action, but I find that difficult to do while I'm playing," said Flintoff. "I can do it in the nets and warm-up, but as soon as I go into a match and a pressure situation I go back to what I know best.

"I'm never happy to have an injection. Nobody likes having needles shoved into them but this latest one was not to patch me up or mask it. It was a treatment and one that did not go into the joint and won't cause any long-term damage. Fingers crossed it will settle down and I'll be fine."

Donald, who has had a positive impact on England's bowlers and will talk about his future with ECB chief executive David Collier here this week, was candid when asked whether Flintoff will ever regain his past effectiveness at Test level, where his ankle is subjected to much longer spells.

"My head tells me that I don't think he can regain his form in the longer game," said Donald. "English cricket and its supporters will have to be patient."

The scenario of Flintoff being reduced to plying his enormously effective trade only in the one-day arena is a desperate one but if he has further problems here or in the Sri Lankan one-day tour that follows, he knows that may become reality.

"I can't be bothered about the doubters," said Flintoff. "I'm not here to prove anybody wrong, just to perform for the team."

Whether he will be fit enough to do that tomorrow will depend on today's training session but there are already worries that poor weather in the Cape might reduce the Zimbabwe clash to fewer than 20 overs or even a dreaded bowl-out.

Cape Town is just surfacing from a winter of heavy rainfall but the ICC decided to allocate matches here even though cricket is not normally played in this part of the country at least until mid-October.

The circumstances demanded some humour and Flintoff provided it with a delivery of which his comic hero Peter Kay would have been proud.

When asked if he was worried about the future if he cannot bowl flat out, Flintoff, whose recent lack of runs has been as acute as the pain in his ankle, said simply: "I can always fall back on my batting."