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Flintoff fails to atone as Cook makes impression
Andrew Flintoff missed the opportunity to make amends for his latest brush with authority as England struggled to impose themselves in their only warm-up match before the Ashes.
Making his first appearance since news broke that he had been disciplined by England for missing a team bus during last week's trip to First World War trenches in Belgium, 31-year-old Flintoff had the ideal platform to generate more positive headlines.
But despite a determined 124 from opener Alastair Cook on the opening day of their three-day match against Warwickshire at Edgbaston, England and Flintoff failed to build on that promising start and declared on 290-8 before Warwickshire reached 31-1 in reply.
Lancashire all-rounder Flintoff had been given an encouraging welcome when he arrived at the crease by a supportive crowd, with England struggling on 229-5 against an under-strength Warwickshire attack.
Instead of banishing another set of negative headlines by the force of his performance, however, Flintoff only made 19 as England lost five wickets for 77 runs despite favourable batting conditions.
Batting on a pitch on the far reaches of the Edgbaston square close to the Tom Dollery stand, which reduced the boundary on that side to only 48 yards and opened up a long boundary on the other side, it was the ideal opportunity for a player of Flintoff's style to exploit the situation but he was soon caught behind off seamer Naqaash Tahir, who has not played a championship match since last August.
It was a disappointing end to a miserable few days for Flintoff, who has battled back from knee surgery after sustaining the injury playing in the Indian Premier League.
Captain Andrew Strauss shared a 61-run opening stand with Cook, who later added 101 with Essex team-mate Ravi Bopara in 27 overs.
Instead of building on that impressive start, however, England suffered a collapse after lunch, Cook finally edging Jonathan Trott's medium pace behind after nearly four hours at the crease, a stay which included 21 boundaries.
His fluency only exposed the failure of his team-mates.
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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