England, July 22: England’s intended path to Ashes glory will be strewn with medical bulletins. The team director, Andy Flower, conceded yesterday that both Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff are in a race against time for the next match against Australia in Birmingham starting a week tomorrow. It is a race Pietersen is likely to lose and Flintoff is utterly intent on winning.
Both men, the side’s most celebrated players, will see specialists this week for examination of their chronic injuries, which will determine their futures in the series. Rumours of their demise have been, in both cases, exaggerated, but they are clearly struggling. At various points during the second Test at Lord’s it was difficult to discern whose limp was the more pronounced.
But the waiting will lead to speculation, concern and attempts to second-guess doctors who can expect to be besieged with requests for prognoses. In cricketing terms, Flintoff’s knee and Pietersen’s heel are serious impediments to performance. It is probably only because of the commanding presence of both and the fact that it is the Ashes that such strenuous efforts are being made.
–Agencies