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England star returning to nets
Cricket, 10:35, December 23, 2009 ,
England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff says he hopes to begin batting again in January as he continues to recover from knee surgery.
The 32-year-old retired from Test cricket after the Ashes victory over Australia in the summer to concentrate on the shorter formats of the game and had hoped to be part of the tour of Bangladesh in February.
However, after undergoing surgery Flintoff suffered a setback when he sustained deep vein thrombosis, meaning he is unlikely to be fit to play for England until the summer.
Flintoff, who is recuperating in Dubai, says he is looking forward to getting back into the nets, but says he is unsure when he will be able to start bowling again.
"It will be good just to start playing some form of cricket again after all this time and it will be great to start hitting balls again," said Flintoff.
"While it's good to be able to pick up a bat again, I'm still some way away from bowling again just yet.
"I've been given a programme by the surgeon, Andy Williams, and I will be sticking to that. I can't see me being given the go-ahead to start bowling for a good few weeks yet."