Only fools rush in - Beefy and Athers agree that England should wait on Flintoff - Sport

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Flintoff missed the winter series in Sri Lanka and New Zealand after undergoing a fourth operation on a troublesome ankle late last year.

The 30-year-old has been trying to prove his fitness playing for Lancashire this season but his returns have been modest.

Some encouraging bowling displays have been undermined by a lack of runs with the bat and he was dismissed for a third successive duck in first-class cricket today in Lancashire's ongoing LV County Championship clash with Durham.

Botham told BBC Sport: "I would just hold Fred back a bit. I'd like him to play a bit more county cricket.

"I'd like him to have plenty of overs under his belt and plenty of runs as a batsman come the South Africans [later in the summer], because I think that will be a much sterner test.

"I'd just like him to be given that time to get his confidence back, full confidence in his body and more importantly in that ankle.

"England do need him but they need a fit Fred. But he also knows this is really make-or-break time because he's 30 years old and he's had four operations on it, so it's got to be right."

Flintoff last played international cricket in the ICC World Twenty20 last autumn but has not been involved in a Test since the disastrous 2006-07 Ashes series, when he captained England.

Former England captain Michael Atherton also feels it is too soon for England to recall Flintoff.

Atherton wrote in his Times column: "For his own sake, and for the good of the team he should not be picked - at least not yet.

"What is the rush? England should beat New Zealand with the most frequently invoked relative in broadcasting - Geoffrey Boycott's mum - at the helm.

"Why not let Flintoff continue to bowl for Lancashire so he can take time to build confidence in his body and try to find some batting form before the tougher questions that South Africa will ask in the second half of the summer?"