da premier bet： England cricket coach Duncan Fletcher was certain he would havea full squad available for the first Test against Australia next month,despite injury concerns surrounding several tourists.
Paul Mulvey07-Jul-2005England cricket coach Duncan Fletcher was certain he would havea full squad available for the first Test against Australia next month,despite injury concerns surrounding several tourists.England’s tour party flies out to Australia tomorrow for the five Testtour with clouds hanging over pacemen Darren Gough, Simon Jones and AndyFlintoff and batsmen Mark Butcher and Michael Vaughan.Gough, Jones and Flintoff will arrive in Australia still a long way fromfull fitness but Fletcher was confident the three first class matchesbefore the opening Test in Brisbane on November 7 would give them enoughtime to recover.Spearhead Gough, who has 228 Test wickets to his name, is vital toEngland’s bid to win back the Ashes for the first time since 1987.And Fletcher played down fears that knee surgery in the summer wouldkeep the 32-year-old out of at least the first two Tests.”We expect Gough to be fit for the first Test. He’s ahead of schedule,”Fletcher said.”He’s been bowling off a short run for the last week and a half.”Flintoff has not fully recovered from a hernia operation and said todayhe was still unable to run.Jones, however, was making good progress with his side strain, as wereButcher and Vaughan with their niggling knee injuries”Everybody is as we hoped. The only person that is slightly behindschedule is Andy but we do have time on our side,” Fletcher said.”We can get him along in the next 10 days or two weeks in Australia.”Simon Jones has been bowling in Glamorgan and is bowling at 85 to 90per cent.”Butcher and Vaughan, from what I’ve heard, they will be available fromthe start.”Fletcher today announced he had signed a one-year extension to hiscontract to keep him at the helm of the England side until 2004.”We have already laid the foundations of a successful side and thecontract extension will give me the opportunity to help the England teamprogress even further,” he said.