Cricket: FREDDIE: THERE IS NOTHING FRAGILE ABOUT MY BODY; WEST INDIES V ENGLAND 3RD ODI, FRIDAY 'I'm ready to lift our dismal winter'.

Byline: BY DEAN WILSON 

ANDREW FLINTOFF will be back in an England shirt on Friday ready to break his winter duck and fire up his stop-start international career with a win.

Flintoff has fully recovered from a hip muscle tear to take his place in the side in Barbados, probably at the expense of his good pal Steve Harmison. Aand after missing out on the side's only win on tour, he is keen to make up for it.

"I'm fit and available for selection," beamed Flintoff.

"I've been doing my training and I was close to playing on Sunday, but we erred on the side of caution and now I'm definitely ready to go.

"It has been a bit frustrating being around but not being a part of the team. You try to mingle as much as you can but you're also conscious of not getting in the way when the lads are playing.

"We've only won one game and I didn't play in that. So it is massively important for us to get something out of what has been a tough winter for us.

"We're not far off being a good one-day side, the big thing we need is consistency which comes through confidence.

"We've beaten everyone in the world at different times but we've never really strung it together over a period of time."

Having Flintoff in the side for more than just a few games at a time would make a big difference to England's chances of one-day success.

And he is confident his body can stand up to the gruelling schedule he has in store starting in the Caribbean before heading to South Africa for the Indian Premier League and then on to a huge summer at home.

Flintoff has got to the stage where he has spent so much time on the sidelines the only thing he wants to do is play cricket, wherever, whenever and for whoever.

"There is nothing fragile about this body," said Flintoff. "It is fine and fit, the only concern is that when I've come back from injuries straight afterwards I've been most vulnerable, so the management is important.

"I'm just going to play whatever I'm asked to play now. In some ways having this four-week break has allowed me to work on my fitness and that should serve me well for what we've got coming up this year.

"I think everyone gets ahead of themselves a little bit because we've got the Ashes later in the year, but we've got a lot to come before them, starting with this trip and three onedayers to play.

"I'm not going to be picking and choosing my games, I'm going to be playing in everything that I can. I just want to keep playing."

England's chances of winning this series in the West Indies will be much improved by having Flintoff involved, especially during the all-important third powerplays which have been bossed by Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

Flintoff also expressed his disappointment that the IPL would definitely not be played in India, but he is still looking forward to the tournament even though its new schedule means he can only play for a fortnight rather than three weeks.

Depending on the restructuring of the games, Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen may see themselves lose out on around pounds 150,000 due to the shift.

Last night talks were still ongoing between the West Indies' board and their players' representatives WIPA over contractual agreements that may yet result in strike action.

CAPTION(S):

PADDED UP Security man Reg Dickinson feels the force of Freddie Flintoff's fitness campaign; TOUGH GUYS Paul Collingwood and Matt Prior