Freddie back in the runs but cagey over lead role

With the opening match at Lord's starting in 10 days, this was a timely revival for the big allrounder, whose run-scoring prowess had deserted him recently. The 29-year-old suffered a World Cup drought — scoring just 92 tournament runs at a meagre average of 13.1.

Scroll down to read more:

But following a week's holiday in the Caribbean, Freddie returned to Manchester and knuckled down in the nets. Yesterday, he began to cash in on the hard graft with an innings of 66 from 84 balls in Lancashire's 20- run victory in a rain-hit Friends Provident Trophy match against Northants at Old Trafford.

He was delighted with a promising day's work, saying: "I've been trying to get back to where I want to be and today it felt like I was getting there. I've spent a lot of time in the nets and I've been getting better.

"I've just been going back to basics. The one thing I wanted to do was spend some time in the middle. I'm pleased with the way today went but I've got to build on that — I haven't cracked it by scoring 60-odd.

"I've got to play against Steve Harmison and Liam Plunkett tomorrow in Durham, which isn't going to be easy. Harmy's already been telling me what he's going to do to me!"

Having shown that his batting touch was coming back, Flintoff then demonstrated a neat sidestep when asked about the England captaincy. With Michael Vaughan seemingly destined to miss the first two West Indies Tests, the selectors will need to appoint a stand-in once again, but the man who led the team to an Ashes whitewash was not about to rule himself in or out.

"That's nothing to do with me, I'm just concentrating on playing for Lancashire," he said. "It's all just ifs and buts at the moment."

Flintoff was listed to come in at No 6, but when Mal Loye was out to leave the home side on 60 for two, he came bounding out of the pavilion. So many recent innings had yielded so many low scores and he was evidently in the mood to start making up for lost time.

Sensibly for a man who has been out of touch, he took his time to settle in — getting off the mark from the third ball he faced, punching it down to long-on for an easy single. Seconds later, it was panic stations as Freddie miscued towards cover point, but the ball fell safely to earth.

Slowly but surely, Flintoff began to relocate the middle of his bat and there were some familiar flourishes as he cruised past the 50 mark. A delivery from former South Africa all-rounder Lance Klusener was smashed hard and flat to the midwicket boundary and shortly afterwards, Flintoff swept a towering six off Richard Dawson.

Eventually, having built a sturdy platform with Brad Hodge, who hit an unbeaten 130, Flintoff tried to up the tempo and perished attempting a huge swipe across the line. A century would have been the dream scenario, but this was one solid step in the right direction and helped Lancashire reach 289 for three.

The bowling part was never going to be an issue, and four tidy, feisty overs yielded just nine runs as Northants, chasing a revised target of 121 in 21 overs, finished on 100 for three.