England in form

England's one-day captain has been forced to do without the talented all-rounder for most of his captaincy since succeeding Michael Vaughan in the role last summer as Flintoff battled with long-standing ankle problems.But the prospect of having Flintoff to balance his emerging one-day side was greeted with cautious optimism by Collingwood after it was announced that the 30-year-old Lancastrian is to play three one-day matches for the Lions this week as a specialist batsman."We hope he can come back and be 100% fit," said Collingwood. "It was a shame last year that he came back and still felt a niggle."It's horrible for a guy to go through an injury like that, have the operation and go through all the rehab and still feel the injury."Flintoff was ruled out of the one-day series against West Indies, Collingwood's first in charge, while he recovered from his ankle problems and recovered sufficiently to play four one-day internationals against India at the end of the summer.His performances in those matches were enough to book Flintoff's place at the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa, but he was wincing in pain when he bowled and had a fourth operation last October in a make-or-break bid to save his career as an all-rounder."What you're hoping for is a 100% fit Andrew Flintoff because we all know what he can do on the park and we all want him back," said Collingwood."But we want to make sure he's ready and raring to go and feeling no pain and we're keeping our fingers crossed that he's going to be like that."The welcome news on Flintoff came as England prepared for the fourth encounter in their five-match one-day series against New Zealand at McLean Park on Wednesday.Having lost the first two matches comprehensively, to set up the series for a decider in Christchurch on Saturday would be a major achievement for England as they attempt to build on recent series wins over India and Sri Lanka.