Flintoff realistic about comeback

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Flintoff is in the middle of a lengthy recovery from the operation he underwent almost immediately after helping England win back the Ashes this summer - a result which spelt the end of his five-day career.

"It's going slowly, but hopefully everything can go according to plan and I can get back in the nets and get practising again because I'm desperate to get back to it," he told Sky Sports News.

The 31-year-old subsequently turned down the offer of an ECB incremental contract to pursue life as a freelance cricketer and this week signed a three-year one-day contract with Lancashire.

He has always made it clear helping his country in ODI and Twenty20 matches is his first priority, though, and initially said he would be available for the limited-overs leg of the Bangladesh trip which runs from February to March.

Now that appears unlikely.

He added: "I've had 10 weeks on crutches so it feels strange walking again and there are some strange feelings around my knee. There's a lot of hard work ahead of me to get back on the cricket field and when that's going to be I can't say at this stage.

"I did say I'd like to go to Bangladesh in the one-day squad but whether that's unrealistic I'm not sure."