Cricket: Fletcher fires a shot at Ashes heroes.

FORMER England cricket coach Duncan Fletcher does not believe Andrew Flintoff is capable of holding down a place as a top-six batsman in the Test side unless his bowling returns to its peak again.

The Lancashire all-rounder, a key member of Fletcher's Ashes winning side of 2005, is working his way back to full match fitness after another operation on a troublesome ankle.

Fletcher believes Flintoff has to rediscover his threat with the ball if his place in the national side is not to come under more scrutiny.

"I hope his foot does allow him to bowl properly because otherwise his batting will need to improve," he said.

"I think it has become pretty obvious he is not a Test match number six."

Fletcher, however, reserves his most stinging criticism for two other members of that Ashes-winning attack. On Steve Harmison, whose poor form saw him dropped after one Test of the recent New Zealand series, he said: "It's typical Harmy, I'm afraid. We've seen it over and over again.

He could and should be the number one bowler in the world but he can't seem to be able to put it all together."

Matthew Hoggard was also dropped after one Test of that series and Fletcher said of the Yorkshireman: "He always struggled when he was the main strike bowler. His speed has been dropping for a while. I heard someone say he'd lost his nip but I thought it had gone a while ago."