What did Andy Flower have to say on the fitness of Andrew Flintoff?

He made it clear that England were optimistic over his chances of being involved. He will bat, but not bowl in the nets today and he will test the knee properly tomorrow. Having said that, Flower was pretty keen to stress that he was wary of going into any Test with a bowler who is not fully fit and would need to be in a position to make a decision, either way, by tomorrow evening.

It was clear that while England are keen to give Freddie every chance of being fit, they will not hang around in making a decision should there be any doubts tomorrow night.

Did Flower hint at which way England might go if Flintoff is ruled out?

It seems that if Flintoff isn't fit, England probably have two options. The first would be to recall Ian Bell to give the team a better balance, because Flower said England would not play Flintoff as a specialist batsman, and then probably include Steve Harmison for Monty Panesar, leaving a straight choice between Stuart Broad and Graham Onions for the final seamer position. Onions could bring something new to the attack, but at the expense of Broad's runs.

The other option is that England would continue to play five bowlers, Harmison as a straight swap for Flintoff with Onions possibly coming in for Panesar. Of course the worry there would be that it could leave England's batting looking pretty thin.

Did Flower say that Harmison's inclusion was dependent on the fitness of Flintoff?

He said not, which is positive for Harmison. He mentioned that Onions and Harmison were raring to go, and there is no doubt that by including both men England would carry greater penetration to their attack.

Was there much mention of the controversy surrounding England's delaying tactics in Cardiff?

He defended England's approach on Sunday night. It was clearly a question he had been expecting and one he had prepared for, because he gave us a three point answer, which I actually thought was a very well considered answer.

He said that England batsmen hadn't wasted time on the final day by needlessly prodding the pitch, sending for new gloves and asking for drinks. He went on to say that there was some confusion surrounding the "overs versus time" scenario towards the end of the day. Finally, he said that England have an exemplary record on these kinds of matters and have won the Spirit of Cricket award on a number of occasions in recent years.

Did he say anything about Kevin Pietersen and whether he might be more careful in his shot selection at Lord's?

He spoke about for the need for England's batsmen to build on the starts almost all of them made in Cardiff and go on to make big scores. He did talk specifically about Pietersen and said while he had clearly made some bad decisions he had also made some good ones because he made 69. I don't think there was any suggestion from Andy Flower of a change of approach from England. You can't ask all your bastmen just to stop playing shots, it's just about making better decisions when they are in the middle.