England leave it late over Flintoff

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Lancashire's Flintoff bowled for 35 minutes in the nets on Thursday to test out his troublesome right knee, which has become something of a pin cushion since he announced this series against Australia would be his final hurrah in Test cricket.

And captain Andrew Strauss is adamant he will only give the green light if convinced the 31-year-old is fully fit, saying: "When you're captain of the team you're motivated by what's right for the team. Obviously if Fred plays and has a detrimental effect on the team, it would be wrong for us to have made that decision on sentimental grounds and I think Fred would appreciate that himself."

He added: "The last thing he wants to happen is to play and then not be able to fulfil a role in the game.

"It's a dire situation for an individual: he will be very honest with us, and sentimentality is pushed to the back of all our minds."

Having played such a dominant hand in the 2005 series victory over the Australians, Flintoff's bowling display at Lord's in particular has put the hosts just one win away from back-to-back home wins.

"We are not going to dwell on that at this stage because sometimes the closer you are to something the harder it is to achieve it," said Strauss.

"From our point of view we will only achieve it by putting the Australian team under a lot of pressure, and will only do that by starting the game well, so it is just one step at a time."

If Flintoff cannot stretch to a fourth match in just five weeks, then England will have to alter the balance of their side by either bolstering the batting with debutant Jonathan Trott or recalling one of pace bowlers Steve Harmison or Ryan Sidebottom.