England captain Andrew Strauss expects Andrew Flintoff to be available for the third npower Test against Australia at Edgbaston. Flintoff, 31, is troubled by a knee problem that threatens his participation in the remaining three matches of the Ashes series, which resumes in Birmingham on Thursday. But Strauss, speaking at a press conference at The Oval marking the announcement of the ECB’s new sponsorship deal with Brit Insurance, is encouraged by the Lancashire all-rounder’s progress, and is confident he will continue to spearhead England’s attack.

“All the indications are that Andrew will be fine. We need to see how he goes over the next couple of days during practice,” said the England captain. “But at this stage we are very confident and obviously he will want to build on his performance at Lord’s. “I spoke to him the day after the second Test at a charity dinner and he said then he was recovering well. That’s encouraging.

“He won’t have bowled until practice tomorrow but has been in constant contact with our medical team. “When you’ve had as many injuries as him you get a good indication of how you’re feeling. Everything we’ve heard so far has been positive.” But the England captain will have one eye on the remaining fourth and fifth Tests at Headingley Carnegie and The Oval when deciding Flintoff’s exact workload. “A lot depends on how much bowling Freddie does at Edgbaston,” said Strauss. “He’s very keen to play in the remaining three Tests and will do everything he can to make sure he’s available for those. “So far it doesn’t look like his knee injury has deteriorated but the reality is you enter a Test match with everyone 100% fit to play otherwise they’re not in the team. “As captain I will be juggling the bowling attack according to what the match situation dictates. “Clearly we don’t want Fred to be bowling millions of overs when conditions aren’t in his favour. That’s important to look at.

“But if we get into a winning position and he’s the right bowler to take us to victory then we’ll be expecting him to put in a similar sort of effort to Lord’s.”  Strauss confirmed that Ian Bell will bat at four in a direct replacement for Kevin Pietersen, who is sidelined with his Achilles injury.  “Ian Bell will come in for Pietersen at four. We’re very clear on that,” said Strauss.  “It causes the least possible disruption to other members of the side.  “We’re all very excited for Ian. He was left out of the team and had to work very hard to get his place back.  “He’s done a huge amount of work on and off the field. He’s very hungry.”  The Warwickshire batsman has been targeted by Australia in the past but Strauss is backing him to demonstrate his class on his home county ground.

The Warwickshire batsman has been targeted by Australia in the past but Strauss is backing him to demonstrate his class on his home county ground.  “What a great opportunity for Ian to come back and show what a good player he is, which I’m very confident he will do,” said Strauss.  “He can also clear up any misgivings that people have about his record against Australia. I’m very excited about having him back.  “He’s had to dig to deep to get back into the team, has done everything right and I’m sure he’ll be desperate to take his chance and prove he can become an important member of the team.”  The ECB today announced Brit Insurance will become the principle team sponsor of England cricket in a partnership that begins in January 2010.  The contract will last four years with the insurance group replacing Vodafone, who have been sponsors since 1997.