Just 12 days before the Ashes series begins, there could be few more cheering sights for an English cricket supporter than watching Andrew Flintoff smiting the ball with all his old power and timing.

In his last game before he joins England’s pre-Ashes training camp this morning, Flintoff hit a thunderous 93 from 41 balls under floodlights last night, an innings that included six mighty sixes and nine fours. He helped Lancashire to their highest Twenty20 score of 220 for five and ensured their qualification for the Twenty20 Cup quarter-finals.

After his delayed start to the season, there has been concern that Flintoff would have insufficient time to find his best batting form before the Ashes. In his previous innings, a half-century against Hampshire in the LV County Championship, the all-rounder had said that batting was starting to feel natural again, and last night he looked something like his old destructive self.

This was his highest score in a competitive match since his last Test century, against Australia at Trent Bridge in 2005. He has even had a close-shaven haircut in the past few days, reminiscent of his 2005 crop.

“The bowling looks after itself but it’s nice to get some runs again,” he said. “I’ve been working hard with Peter Moores \ for the last few weeks. It was nice today to come out in a good position and be able to cut loose and play a few shots.”

Making his entrance with Lancashire 70 for three in the seventh over, he looked awkward at first, but muscled a few ungainly boundaries. Then, in the twelfth over, he found his range, striking Garry Park’s medium pace for a sequence of four, six, four, six. The second of these was a drive to long-off that Graham Wagg, jumping just inside the boundary, touched with one hand but could not prevent from going for six. Two balls later, Flintoff drove a half-volley in the same direction and this time Wagg could only watch it sail high over his head.

Flintoff added 99 in ten overs with V.V.S. Laxman and reached his fifty from 24 balls before Nantie Hayward was subjected to more brutal treatment. This time 24 came from five legitimate balls, as Flintoff twice stepped across his stumps to lift sixes over fine leg, the second time disturbing the tiles on the pavilion roof.

As a century began to look likely, he was dismissed by the first ball of the final over, brilliantly caught on the mid-wicket boundary by Greg Smith, who leapt high and held a stunning catch in his outstretched right hand. Flintoff departed with a wry smile, his bat and helmet modestly raised. “There’s not much you can do when Fred gets going like that,” Chris Rogers, the Derbyshire captain, said. “He was just too good today.”

For good measure, Flintoff also took a wicket with his fourth ball, bowling Wagg, as Derbyshire fell well short of Lancashire’s mountainous total. He added a second wicket by bowling Jamie Pipe in his final over. When England meet up at Loughborough this morning, they will welcome back an all-rounder who is enjoying his cricket once again.

Lancashire
P J Horton c Rogers b Hayward 24
V V S Laxman c Law b Park 63
S J Croft b Hunter 12
F du Plessis run out 1
A Flintoff c Smith b Hunter 93
†G D Cross not out 13
*G Chapple not out 3
Extras (lb 5, w 6) 11
Total (5 wkts, 20 overs) 220
M J Chilton, S I Mahmood, S D Parry and G Keedy did not bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-35, 2-62, 3-70, 4-169, 5-210.
Bowling: Groenewald 4-0-41-0; Hayward 4-0-52-1; Hunter 4-0-37-2; Smith 3-0-29-0; Wagg 2-0-23-0; Park 3-0-33-1.

Derbyshire
G G Wagg b Flintoff 4
*C J L Rogers c Chilton b Croft 52
G M Smith run out 56
S G Law b Parry 1
W W Hinds run out 22
J L Sadler not out 19
G T Park b Mahmood 1
†D J Pipe b Flintoff 0
T D Groenewald not out 3
Extras (lb 2, w 4) 6
Total (7 wkts, 20 overs) 164
I D Hunter and M Hayward did not bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-86, 3-90, 4-134, 5-144, 6-158, 7-159.
Bowling: Chapple 4-0-22-0; Mahmood 3-0-31-1; Flintoff 4-0-32-2; Parry 4-0-37-1; Keedy 1-0-17-0; Croft 4-0-23-1.

Umpires: V A Holder and R A Kettleborough.