May 04, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 27, 1429

LONDON, May 3: Eying a four-man bowling attack, England captain Michael Vaughan has backed all-rounder Andrew Flintoff for a comeback against New Zealand in the first Test starting at Lord’s on May 15.

Vaughan’s inclination towards Flintoff is a major change of tack from the last time the two played a Test together, back in 2005. Then, Flintoff was trusted as a top-six batsman and formed part of a five-man attack that proved instrumental in winning back the Ashes.

In his absence, however, England have realised through the efforts of Ryan Sidebottom and Monty Panesar in particular, that there is a capacity for winning Tests with only four bowlers.

“For a long time I was a fan of five bowlers, but since we’ve had to do without Fred, I’ve realised that whilst five might be ideal, it is certainly possible to do with four in Test cricket,” Vaughan told The Times.

“That’s the way I’m looking right now. Most other Test teams have a No 6 who averages 45 in Test cricket, so I’m looking at Flintoff at seven and four bowlers.”

It is feared Flintoff, who has already undergone four bouts of surgery on his troublesome left ankle, might struggle to keep his fitness if required to shoulder a full quota of overs in a Test.

But he has wasted no time in re-establishing his bowling credentials, and against Somerset last week, he put the wind up his old Ashes foe, Justin Langer, to such an extent that Langer hailed him as “the best fast bowler in the world” in his column.

“If I was the sole selector of the England Test team, Andrew Flintoff could bat at No 11 if it meant playing him,” Langer wrote.

“There have been whispers that he needs to score runs to scrape into the England line-up. But I have never known Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh or Glenn McGrath having to score runs to be selected.”

A similar thought process seems to have taken hold in the England set-up.

“He hasn’t played [at No 6] for a long time, and for Fred, his bowling rhythm comes much more naturally than his batting,” said Vaughan, who is sure that the runs will start to flow once again.

“The only problem with four bowlers is that it asks a lot of his fitness, which we’ll find out about over the next few months, and it asks more of Monty Panesar, who might have to bowl, say, 25 overs on a first-day pitch, but I’ve got no worries about him.”

Part of Vaughan’s urgency stems from his desire to equip his team with a genuine pacer ahead of what promises to be a high-octane clash with South Africa later this summer.—Agencies