Australia's captain Ricky Ponting believes that England will be taking a massive gamble if they risk playing a half-fit Andrew Flintoff in the Ashes later this summer, and offered a veiled criticism of the decisions of both Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen to take part in the recently concluded Indian Premier League in South Africa.
Facing the media at Trent Bridge following the Australian squad's arrival in England on Thursday morning, Ponting spoke of how "relaxed and rejuvenated" he felt after opting out of the IPL and taking a four-week break from the game, and suggested that in hindsight England's star players might have been better off following his example.
Instead, Flintoff is facing an anxious race against the clock after requiring surgery on a knee injury sustained while playing for the Chennai Super Kings at the IPL, while Pietersen, who captained Bangalore Royal Challengers in the opening rounds, last week missed his first international cricket for two years when he decided to rest an Achilles injury during the ODI series against West Indies.
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