Flintoff promises Ashes fightback

BRISBANE—England captain Andrew Flintoff vowed his side would hit back after being emphatically beaten by Australia in the first Ashes Test in Brisbane. “Australia put us under pressure from the word go and we took our time to get into the game,” said Flintoff.
“We’ve been in this position before and we’ll be looking forward to bouncing back in the second Test in Adelaide. “But it was important the batters scored runs and put some partnerships together in this match.” England captain Andrew Flintoff
Flintoff rejected the suggestion that England had come into the series under-prepared. After playing in the one-day ICC Champions Trophy in India, England played a one-day game and two three-day games in Australia before the Test series. There’s no more smiles or friendly banter, we’re playing for our country Kevin Pietersen “We had a great preparation. We got a lot out of the warm-up games and quite a few of us were in India for a few weeks,” said Flintoff. And Flintoff said fast bowler Steve Harmison, who took 1-177 in the match, would be working hard to find some form before the start of the second Test on Friday.
“It’s fair to say Harmy didn’t click in this game but every time he goes on the field he gives his best,” said Flintoff. “He’s been working hard in the nets and he’ll probably continue to do so for the next few days to get his bowling back to where we’d like it to be.” Meanwhile, Kevin Pietersen, who made a combative 92 in England’s second innings, agreed that the tourists would make a better fist of things in Adelaide. Pietersen gave Warne some severe punishment on day four
“The first three days didn’t go to plan and we need total dedication to get it right,” said Pietersen. “There were a few bad decisions in our first innings but we didn’t play good cricket. But the way we played the last few days was a good sign. “To bat for such a long period of time will stand all our batters in good stead come Friday. “If we can bat like that for the next 20 days and if our bowlers get it right we’ll be OK.” Pietersen added that his spat with Shane Warne on Sunday was a taste of things to come for the rest of the series. Warne, taking exception to some punishment from Pietersen, almost hit his old rival with a shy at the stumps.
Pietersen stormed down the pitch to remonstrate with Warne and words were exchanged for the remainder of the day. 06 DEBATE: Give your thoughts at the end of the first Test “There are no more smiles or friendly banter, we’re both playing for our country and as hard as they hit us we’ll be coming back doubly hard,” he said. But Pietersen added: “What happens on the field stays on the field, it’s got nothing to do with what happens off the field.”—Agencies