England will fly to South Africa on Sunday with Andrew Flintoff's fitness still in doubt. The all-rounder is on the plane to the Twenty20 World Cup, despite still having his fitness assessed during and after Saturday's win over India.
An injury to his troublesome left ankle kept the England star out of the three of the seven one-day games and the decision to take Flintoff is based as much on the impact his mere presence has on the side as his fitness. And, if he can play any part in the tournament, England will view it as a risk worth taking.
"Freddie was a little sore after bowling, said skipper Paul Collingwood. "Freddie's always willing to bowl, but from a captain's point of view you don't want to make anything worse". "All the time you are asking if he's ok, and today he said he was fine. There's a little bit of soreness, but we'll have to take it from there."
One player who won't be making the trip is Ryan Sidebottom. The Nottinghamshire fast bowler has failed to recover from an injury and has been replaced by Dimitri Mascarenhas.
Mascarenhas' recent performances for England have thrust him into the limelight; he followed his big-hitting display at the Oval, with a fine performance with the ball Saturday. The Hampshire all-rounder had figures of 3-23 from 10 overs in the seven-wicket win at Lord's.
James Anderson will also be making the trip he was brought in as a late replacement for Ravi Bopara, who broke his finger at Headingly last Sunday. England's one-day performances against India have seen a marked improvement from the ones they produced against the West Indies earlier in the summer.
And Collingwood believes they can take plenty of confidence into the tournament in South Africa. "I think it's always nice to win a series and we can take a lot of confidence from the actual win," he said. "The squad we have got covers all bases for the Twenty20 and it's going to be an exciting time".
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