Andrew Flintoff returns to England duty at Edgbaston with his captain insisting there are no worries about the all-rounder's commitment to the cause.

Flintoff has spent the first part of this summer recovering from knee surgery but ahead of the three-day Ashes warm-up game against Warwickshire the focus has been on him for all the wrong reasons.

The 31-year-old was forced to apologise to team-mates after missing part of last weekend's squad-bonding trip to Flanders. He failed to board the bus taking captain Andrew Strauss and the other players on a tour of First World War trenches - sparking speculation he had drunk too much at the previous evening's private dinner.

Flintoff has a track record where booze is concerned. He was suspended for a World Cup match in St Lucia in 2007 after the infamous 'Fredalo' affair and former coach Duncan Fletcher claimed he was too hungover to practise properly the day before a limited-overs international in Sydney that year.

Strauss refused to reveal the punishment handed down and suggested Flintoff had been guilty of bad timekeeping rather than bad judgement.

But, whatever the precise reason for last Saturday morning's no-show, England's skipper believes no one should doubt Flintoff's determination to be part of a successful side this summer.

"Fred is very keen to buy into what we are doing with the side," said Strauss. "Team spirit and team unity is vitally important for us. From my conversations with Fred he is very keen to play a full part in that.

"I've got no worries about him being part of the side. I think he has got plenty of points to prove this summer and that excites me.

"He is desperately keen to come in and do well. He has trained really hard - you just have to look at his body shape to know that he's put in a hell of a lot of hard work. And he's desperate to do well in the Ashes."

Presumably, all of the above tributes apply to every England cricketer bursting to play in next week's opening Ashes Test at Cardiff. Yet Strauss admitted Flintoff is not alone in having been disciplined for bad timekeeping.

"There have been a few instances recently," admitted Strauss. "A lot of it is maybe not putting enough thought into how important it is for things to start on time, for buses to leave on time and that sort of stuff.

"I think the players understand we don't want to see any more of it."

Whatever happens this week England fans will be hoping Flintoff batters the Aussies as he did in 2005. "Fred is always under pressure when he comes back and I feel for him in that respect," said Strauss. "He's made out to be the saviour of English cricket and I would like to take the pressure off him."