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| December 24, 2006 | Sunday | Zilhaj 02, 1427 |
Flintoff to play despite painful ankle
MELBOURNE, Dec 23: England captain Andrew Flintoff will battle through painful ankle problems to play in the last two Ashes Tests.
He did not bowl in the nets on Friday but said he was confident about the next match starting in Melbourne on Tuesday.
“The ankle feels good. Obviously, we netted yesterday and I didn't bowl, I will probably bowl tomorrow,” Flintoff told reporters here on Saturday.
“There's no secret, I've had some discomfort in it over the past week. I'm not envisaging any long-term problems or worried about these next two Test matches.”
Flintoff said his team were very keen to put on a good performance at the MCG after the disappointment of losing the first three Tests and the Ashes.
“We want to show we can win out here, we want to show we can win two test matches, it's a big occasion for us,” he said.
“There's been a few things happening in the world of cricket over the past week, but it can't affect our preparations,” he added, referring to Australians Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath announcing their retirements.
Flintoff said his team were looking forward to playing at the MCG in front of around 90,000 spectators.
“There's a lot of character and a lot of pride in the dressing room and they will be keen to go out and show what good cricketers and what a good team we are,” he said.
“I've only been here once before and you walk into the ground the other day, you see the size of it and you see the stands, it's something that's exciting,” he added.—Reuters
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