England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff on Tuesday scotched speculation about his non-availability for the Indian Premier League, saying he will be fit before the second edition of the cash-rich event.
Flintoff sustained a hip injury recently and was ruled out of the fourth Test against the West Indies.
ECB CEO Collier had said Flintoff may be stopped from appearing in the T20 League considering team’s Ashes interest.
“I don’t think it will be touch and go. The IPL’s still a while away so for all intents and purposes I’ll be fit for that. I’m intending to go but it’s not really at the forefront of my thinking. I want to play Test cricket and I want to play the one-day internationals,” Flintoff was quoted as saying by Daily Telegraph.
Flintoff, who along with compatriot Kevin Pietersen grabbed a whopping $1.55 million contract with the IPL, also believes playing in the IPL will help England players prepare better for the T20 World Cup.
“It seems the (domestic) Twenty20 competitions always seem to fall between one-day and Test series. So as much Twenty20 cricket going into that World Cup will obviously benefit the side.
“You see how the Indians have gone it’s had a knock-on effect in one-day internationals. Obviously financially it’s great. But to further our game and get better in that form of the game it’s important we go,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“You see how the Indians have gone it’s had a knock-on effect in one-day internationals. Obviously financially it’s great. But to further our game and get better in that form of the game it’s important we go,” he said.
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