England look to urn advantage

England's Andrew Flintoff on arrival for the ICC Champions Trophy © Getty Images

England coach Duncan Fletcher believes victory over Australia in the ICC Champions Trophy would be the perfect pre-Ashes tonic.

Andrew Flintoff’s side are set to face their old foes in their group in the month-long tournament in India, which precedes the defence of the urn down under.

Last year Fletcher reflected on the psychological significance of a Twenty20 victory over the Aussies prior to the 2-1 Test series success and now views the meeting in Jaipur in a fortnight’s time as another potential confidence booster.

The omens may be good as it was in the semi-final of this tournament in 2004, in fact, that England defeated the world champions to end a four-and-a-half-year run of one-sided one-day results between the countries.

England coach Duncan Fletcher © Getty Images

“I think it is going to be important,” said Fletcher of the meeting which could decide the future participation of England, runners-up in 2004, here.

“We have played well against Australia ever since the last ICC - because that was the first time we had beaten them convincingly.

“From that semi-final we showed a marked improvement, we have an improved record against them and it would be nice to continue with that record.”

Given the more serious matters of an Ashes tour and World Cup later this winter, England would have been forgiven for initially viewing this event as an annoying sideshow.

However, the recent injury spate and subsequent return of a number of players, including Flintoff, means the three-week format to decide the final four teams could be perfect build-up.

“I think it will,” Fletcher said. “With a lot of young players, coming out here is an ideal opportunity to get out here and work in the nets.

“It is an ideal opportunity, which we have been calling for at some stage, to practice, develop skills we can’t carry out in a match situation.

“So training, getting guys fit will be a major thing for us.”

England’s opening match - as they attempt to continue the positive streak which saw them come back from 2-0 down against Pakistan to draw the NatWest Series - is against hosts India a week on Sunday.

“That fightback showed real character because they were under pressure to perform and in the circumstances some of the older players were now looking over their shoulder whereas normally they might have come straight back into the side,” said Fletcher.

Captain Flintoff is one of those who returns, initially as a specialist batsmen it would appear following prolonged absence with an ankle injury, alongside fast bowling duo Steve Harmison and James Anderson.

There is plenty to prove following a wretched run of just four wins in 21 completed contests - prior to back-to-back victories over Pakistan - which sent England spiralling down to eighth in the one-day rankings.

And they have been given little chance of glory on the sub-continent this month but Flintoff insisted: “Two years ago we got to the final and were beaten by the West Indies - that hurt.

“It was a great occasion and final to play in, so having done it once you want to do it again and hopefully we will go one step further.

“I am excited about getting back on the field. Sometimes you take playing cricket for granted a little bit and having not played much all summer I have missed it a hell of a lot and can’t wait to knock a few of those cobwebs off.

Fletcher and Flintoff take centre stage in India

“It is an important competition from the point of view of trying to win it but it also gives a few of us the opportunity to get back on the field again.

“It has been shown that any team can beat any other on their day and when we are confident we believe we can beat whoever we play against.

“There is a lot of talent within the side, there are a lot of good young players who are getting better the more they play and the one thing we have to strive for now is consistency. “We need to string a lot of victories together.”

Flintoff was in charge earlier this year when England were beaten 5-1 by the Indians but has not featured in a one-day international since.

Where the 28-year-old slots back into the batting order is a matter for some debate with Fletcher keen to retain both spinning options Jamie Dalrymple and Michael Yardy in conditions expected to favour pace being taken off the ball.

One experimental route could be for Flintoff to open due to the absence of the hard-hitting Marcus Trescothick at the top of the order.

That would allow Ian Bell to remain at number three, keep Flintoff apart from Kevin Pietersen, the other power player among the batters, and include Dalrymple and Yardy at six and seven.

How to accommodate Flintoff might be something of a headache but Fletcher said: “It is one of those nice headaches because it is crucial to the side that he is back.

“We have thrown some ideas around already and we will have to work it out and finalise them.

“Our side is nicely balanced at the moment and against Pakistan we were able to go in with two spin bowlers which we have never really been able to do before.”