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Home  » Sports » England face test of character, says Flintoff

England face test of character, says Flintoff

February 11, 2009 10:07 IST
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England, stunned by their humiliating opening loss to West Indies, face a test of character when the series resumes on Friday, all-rounder Andrew Flintoff said.

"It's a big test of everyone isn't it?," Flintoff told reporters on Tuesday. "After the game we were flat and probably still are a little bit now, but as bad as it was it's the first of four," he added.

The second match of the four-Test series starts at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua on Friday with England reeling after being bowled out for 51 on the last day in Jamaica.

"We've got to start performing on the field, taking our wickets and scoring our runs," Flintoff said. "I'm confident we can do that.

"That's going to be the test. When you go through something like that, you have still go to back your game. It's a test of character, it's about how people respond," he added.

Flintoff was the only England batsman to reach double figures in the second innings as Jerome Taylor and Sulieman Benn rolled through order at will.

"We are good players and to get bowled out that quickly there was a lot of shock," he said. "I don't think I've been involved in an innings like that where you can't do anything."

The dispute between Kevin Pietersen and Peter Moores last month which led to the former resigning as captain and the latter being sacked as coach, prompted talk of rifts in the squad but Flintoff said the matter was no longer an issue.

"That's all done and dusted. We get on fine. We've moved on from everything and are trying to win Test cricket," he said, adding that he had cleared the air with Pietersen.

"We've spoken about what happened, the conversation will stay between him and me and we've moved on," Flintoff added.

England practised on Tuesday and Flintoff said the team were looking to move forward.

"We met last night and we had an honest chat as a group of lads. We've got to get things going in the right direction quickly.

"The spirit has been good, but perhaps we need to draw on each other a bit more and help your mates out," he added.

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Source: REUTERS
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