Andrew Flintoff will return to competitive cricket with Lancashire in a pre-season tournament in the United Arab Emirates in March, the club believe. The all-rounder pulled out of the England Lions tour to India on Tuesday, but the county think that he will have recovered from a fourth operation on his injured ankle in time to play at the Pro ARCH Tournament against Yorkshire, Essex, Somerset, Sussex and the UAE. Lancashire’s first match is on March 14 against the UAE.

At the launch of the tournament yesterday, Mal Loye, Flintoff’s Lancashire teammate, told The Times: “His name has been pencilled in. I’m pretty sure it will be part of his rehabilitation. Obviously he’s a great addition to the side. It [Flintoff’s recovery] is still in the fairly early stages, but there’s still some time for him to give that ankle some rest.”

Loye, a big-hitter who has played seven one-day internationals for England, said that Flintoff’s recovery is progressing, despite his opting out of the England Lions tour. “He’s very positive after the operation,” Loye said.

It is thought that Flintoff is batting in the nets. Loye said: “People forget what a destructive player he is with the bat. His bowling takes care of itself.”

David Graveney, the chairman of selectors, had raised the possibility of Flintoff joining the Lions development squad as a batsman. The latest operation on his left ankle, carried out in October, ruled him out of this winter’s tours of Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

Nasser Hussain said yesterday that the all-rounder’s return could not come quickly enough for England. “The bowling could do with a bit more variety, which is why Andrew Flintoff is such a massive player for England, despite all the problems,” Hussain, the former England captain, told Wisden Cricketer magazine. “He also inspires [Kevin] Pietersen to play better because there is a rivalry between the two. If Flintoff comes back and starts performing, then I think you will see Pietersen raise his game – which has to be great news for England.”

Hussain said that the England team need “toughening up” mentally. His criticism came as the third Test between Australia and India got under way in Perth. The Australians were on their best behaviour after what the majority of observers agreed was their unsportsmanlike conduct in the second Test in Sydney.

Not that they tempered their aggression or competitiveness. Indeed, they bounced back in typical fashion in the final session, when they took four wickets to leave India on 297 for six at the close. It meant the home team had the better of a roasting day in their quest for a record seventeenth consecutive Test victory.

Australia went into a Test match without a specialist spin bowler for the first time since 1992, with Shaun Tait replacing Brad Hogg. India would have been aiming to score 450-plus on an excellent batting surface, so the late dismissals of Rahul Dravid and V. V. S. Laxman to poor strokes was a body blow.

Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar had played innings of considerable substance, compiling their sixteenth century stand, equalling a record held by Desmond Haynes and Gordon Greenidge, and Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer. Tendulkar played the best innings of the day, his 71 off 128 balls including several eye-catching upper-cuts over the slips, before he was given out leg-before to a ball from Brett Lee that would have gone over the stumps.

Dravid, who had been dropped on 11 by Michael Clarke, made a handsome 93 from 183 balls with 15 fours, but was furious with himself when he top-edged a sweep off Andrew Symonds’s off breaks. His wicket fell between those of Sourav Ganguly, superbly caught low in the gully by Mike Hus-sey, and Laxman, who mis-hit an attempted pull off Brett Lee to mid-off.

Virender Sehwag had taken the attack to Australia in the first hour, but he wasdefeated by extra bounce and Wasim Jaffer, his opening partner, fell to Lee for the fifth time in the series after getting stuck on 16 for 40 minutes.