Monday, November 26, 2001
Andy Flintoff didn't exactly blend into the background when he strode into the apricot dust and painted splendour of the Jaipur cricket ground. The cameras traced every stride and enthusiastic net bowlers queued up to have their dignity slapped back over their heads. With an accent as broad as TV superstar Geoff Boycott, an earring in one ear in the Rajasthani fashion, and the most Viking-like stature of any England batsman since Tony Greig, he has the potential to be garlanded by India almost as quickly as Nasser Hussain.

It's all rather different from the anonymous weevils-and-biscuits lifestyle Flintoff was leading at the Adelaide Academy a few days ago. There it was up at 6.30 for training followed by classroom lessons, pilates, yoga, nets and more lessons from cut-throat Aussie taskmasters - including batting classes from Ian Chappell.

Flintoff shared a room at the institute with the Durham fast bowler Steve Harmison, basic accommodation which only got cleaned once a week. "You've got to do your own washing and all sorts." A sportsman's nightmare.

It ended with a single e-mail which arrived at 6.30am one morning last week. Flintoff fell on his feet and landed in Jaipur, where the temperature is that of a perfect English summer's day, and the security far less efficient than in the big cities. Traffic doesn't circle the ground like at Bombay and Hyderabad. Instead birds totter along the dirt track, five minutes' walk from the unbelievably luxurious team hotel, an old palace with coiffeured gardens and peacocks on the lawn.

Flintoff's resurrection from chubby dosser with wasted potential to revitalised England contender hasn't come just like that. "I'm working a lot harder with my game than I ever was," he said today, sitting in a cane chair on the hotel verandah. "I realised that I was just drifting for a while and now I'm just desperately trying to get back into the Test team.

"Last year I probably worked as hard at my game as I ever had and probably had the worst season I've ever had, which was a bit disillusioning for a while, but I worked hard in Zimbabwe and it seemed to pay off. I thought I played all right without breaking any real pots."

If ever there was a time for pot-breaking, it is now. Duncan Fletcher has hinted that Flintoff could bat at No. 6 and open the bowling, something no-one since Ian Botham has done with any real success for England. In fact hardly anyone has done it at all. But Flintoff brushes off even that hoodoo.

"I'd do anything to be honest. If I had to open the bowling, that would be great. I took the new ball once for England, for two overs in a Test match against West Indies at Edgbaston."

Those two overs are more than anyone else in this England squad can boast. If they were to go on the revived version of Mastermind, their special subject would be inexperience. A grassy Jaipur pitch has thrown the selectors into even more confusion over the team for tomorrow's game against India A. Do they pick the probable Test XI or stand down one of the in-form batsmen, possibly Hussain, to give Michael Vaughan one last chance to score some runs?

Ashley Giles has hit what Hussain calls "crunch time": if he plays tomorrow, England have to choose between Martyn Ball, who sustained ligament damage in his left ring finger at practice today, and Richard Dawson.

The confusion was such that the only real answer was to ignore it, which is what most of the players did. They played football in training and made a visit to the pink palace in the afternoon. Whether Flintoff came into contact with any pots is not known.

Tanya Aldred, our assistant editor, is covering the whole England tour for Wisden.com.

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