<p>Despite pain from his knee Flintoff bowled a match-winning spell at Lord's last week, taking five Australian wickets to give England a 1-0 lead in the five-match series with three Tests still remaining, starting at Edgbaston on Thursday. <br /><br />"After the Test match (at Lord's) last week my knee was a bit sore but I've been icing it and getting treatment from (Lancashire physio) Dave Roberts," the injury-prone Flintoff told radio station Talk Sport on Tuesday. "I've been in the gym and have to prove my fitness at training this afternoon." <br /><br />"I've been icing it and now I have this machine that I put on the knee every night. It gets in the way a little bit... <br /><br />“It wraps around my knee and it compresses it, half an hour on, half an hour off, through-out the night,” the Lancastrian ace all-rounder added.<br /><br />A fit and firing Flintoff will be a massive boost for England who must make do without injured batsman Kevin Pietersen for the final three Tests after he had Achilles surgery. <br />Flintoff, who will retire from Tests at the end of the Ashes series, said he expected to be able to play in the back-to-back Tests at Edgbaston and Headingley. <br /><br />"Last week I bowled in some discomfort. But I managed to bowl my overs and get through," he said. <br /><br />"I said before the Lord's Test that we had four matches to go and I intended to play every one of them. I played back-to-back Test matches last week and I fully intend doing the same this week." <br /><br />"This is massive," he added. "For me to go out of Test cricket standing on the podium at the Oval with an Ashes medal in hand would probably the best thing that's happened in my career." <br /><br />Reuters</p>
<p>Despite pain from his knee Flintoff bowled a match-winning spell at Lord's last week, taking five Australian wickets to give England a 1-0 lead in the five-match series with three Tests still remaining, starting at Edgbaston on Thursday. <br /><br />"After the Test match (at Lord's) last week my knee was a bit sore but I've been icing it and getting treatment from (Lancashire physio) Dave Roberts," the injury-prone Flintoff told radio station Talk Sport on Tuesday. "I've been in the gym and have to prove my fitness at training this afternoon." <br /><br />"I've been icing it and now I have this machine that I put on the knee every night. It gets in the way a little bit... <br /><br />“It wraps around my knee and it compresses it, half an hour on, half an hour off, through-out the night,” the Lancastrian ace all-rounder added.<br /><br />A fit and firing Flintoff will be a massive boost for England who must make do without injured batsman Kevin Pietersen for the final three Tests after he had Achilles surgery. <br />Flintoff, who will retire from Tests at the end of the Ashes series, said he expected to be able to play in the back-to-back Tests at Edgbaston and Headingley. <br /><br />"Last week I bowled in some discomfort. But I managed to bowl my overs and get through," he said. <br /><br />"I said before the Lord's Test that we had four matches to go and I intended to play every one of them. I played back-to-back Test matches last week and I fully intend doing the same this week." <br /><br />"This is massive," he added. "For me to go out of Test cricket standing on the podium at the Oval with an Ashes medal in hand would probably the best thing that's happened in my career." <br /><br />Reuters</p>
