London, July 20: Injury-prone stars Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen are two indispensable members of England and the team needs their services to regain the Ashes even if it means that the duo has to take field not being fully fit, feels former captain Nasser Hussain.
While all-rounder Flintoff, whose career has been plagued with injuries, twisted his right knee at the drawn first Test in Cardiff last week, batsman Pietersen was also struggling with his Achilles injury which came to light in England’s opening World Twenty20 match.
Hussain believes that the 2005 Ashes star players can make a difference to England’s attack this time around.
He also felt that England has to look into their fitness before they head to Edgbaston for the third Test.
”They are both clearly struggling with injury and England will have to decide whether they are fit enough for the third Test at Edgbaston. ”My view is that we must patch them up and do everything possible to get them out there for the rest of the Ashes,” Hussain said.
”This series is so important that England must get their best players on the park by any means possible.
”I know some people, like David Lloyd, do not agree with me and think that you cannot go into a Test with injured players. But this is different. The stakes are so high that risks have to be taken as long as no long-term damage is done to the players,” former Essex batsman wrote in his column for ‘The Daily Mail’.
The former captain was confident that England will wrap-up the second Ashes Test in their favour, though he said winning Tests against any Australian team has never been an easy task.
”It just goes to show that winning Tests against Australia is never an easy business,” Hussain said.
”Whatever Australian team you come up against, they will never roll over and die. Sunday’s innings was the best I have seen Michael Clarke play. ”And, considering the situation, that was one of the best hundreds I’ve ever seen at Lord’s,” he wrote.
Chasing a daunting target of 521 in the second innings, Australia who initially struggled after losing five wickets at 128, were 313 for five before the third day’s play was called off yesterday due to bad light.
Michael Clarke (125) and Brad Haddin’s (80) gutsy sixth wicket stand steadied the Australian innings and gave the visitors a slim chance of victory at Lord’s.
The former right-handed batsman further hailed the hosts’ performance throughout the second Test, and also heaped praise for captain Andrew Strauss for his leadership skills.
”Throughout this Test they have done virtually everything right and that includes their decision not to enforce the follow-on. ”They have bowled exceptionally and Strauss has captained them magnificently- it is just this is Test cricket and other teams are allowed to play well against you. ”It would certainly have been extraordinary if Australia had not played well at all throughout the match, so their fightback should not have come as a surprise,” the 41-year-old added.
—–Agencies