England fail to follow Freddie lead

Andrew Flintoff's emergence as a world-class all-rounder could yet be the catalyst which transforms England into a World Cup-winning side, but even the best of presents come with strings attached.

The big Lancastrian's presence in the one-day team has grown so large that Michael Vaughan relies on him to an unhealthy degree, expecting him to provide runs, wickets, catches and, most crucially, balance to the side.

Flintoff proved his fitness to bat in this Natwest Series by running up Rivington Pike near Bolton, but there are some peaks not even he can scale.

The 26-year-old's ankle injury prevents him bowling and without a fullyfunctioning Freddie England are far more fragile, lacking depth in both batting and bowling.

Not even Flintoff can do everything on his own and his maiden one-day international century, a perfectlypaced innings of 106 from 121 balls, failed to give England a total they could defend on a good pitch against New Zealand at Bristol. Although admitting to some satisfaction at passing an overdue milestone Flintoff revealed another sign of his growing maturity by complaining that it should have come sooner.

He said: "It's frustrating how slow it's taken me to get to this point to be honest. I've made progress since I made my debut but it's taken me a long time to do it. It'd be nice if it would've happened two years ago but I'm getting somewhere near where I should be.

"It's extremely disappointing as when you score runs you're trying to win cricket matches, so personal glory doesn't come into it.

"The one thing I can take heart from is the way I built my innings. There were times in the West Indies when I got out for 40 or 50 in the 40th over but yesterday I stayed on top of things.