England Have Flintoff-Sized Hole

For an England fan, the first three days of this Test were a delight: probably the best we have played since the first three days against Sri Lanka at the same venue in 2006.

However, the memories of that match are all too fresh in the mind: after scoring 550 and skittling Sri Lanka, England then spent days four and five toiling in vain for second innings victory.

Andrew Flintoff bowled himself into the ground that day, with 51 overs in the second innings, a superhuman effort which, it is now clear, did him serious long-term damage.

In this match, Ryan Sidebottom looks like he is carrying an injury, and while that may not be so disastrous in the long-term, England's bowlers are going to be a very weary bunch on Friday, at Headingley.

If South Africa escape with a draw here, they will take a significant physical advantage up to Leeds, one which can only be offset by the introduction of new blood for England.

I personally do not believe that Andrew Flintoff is a Test match number six, and statistics would bear that out. However, he should be brought into the team there at the expense of Paul Collingwood, as day four at Lord's has rammed home the point that everyone feared: England's attack lacks that one ace who can get good players out on unhelpful pitches.

England's pace trio have done extremely well in this match, but there is a desperate need for a genuine fast-and-nasty, or for someone who can reverse the ball at 90mph. Flintoff is both of those things, and must be started now.

It may very well be that he breaks down again under the physical strain. But this can be mitigated by rationing his overs, something Michael Vaughan has the control and judgement to do, which Fred himself did not.

His batting should be treated as a bonus and nothing more. Not to be unkind to Paul Collingwood, but Flintoff could hardly be much worse than the Durham scratcher. The presence of Stuart Broad at eight and, to a lesser extent, Tim Ambrose at seven, offset the disadvantage of having a substandard number six. Between the three of them, they ought to be able to bolster a top five who all look decent value to make a score - with the obvious exception of Brears at number three.

The calls for Simon Jones are getting louder by the day, but let's take one injury-prone gamble at a time, no? At the risk of sounding heartless, if Flintoff - 31 next birthday - breaks down again and has to miss another 18 months, maybe it is time to start moving on.

I hope very much that this doesn't happen, but I believe that some of the pressure on him can be managed by using him only for, say, three six-over bursts a day - and by telling him not to worry too much about the batting.