Andrew Flintoff's dodgy alarm clock has given the England management a difficult few days ahead of the Ashes after the allrounder missed the bus during their team-bonding trip to Belgium to view the war graves. It led to Andrew Strauss being asked how they are going to deal with Flintoff and both he and Hugh Morris were on the defensive. In the Daily Mail, Paul Newman says that the ECB could soon be in a tough situation.

To let himself and England down when the team were supposed to be opening their eyes to the wider world and learning about those who gave their lives for the country seems particularly crass. This is a big test for the Strauss-Flower regime. They have made an excellent impression as a partnership capable of lifting England from the depths to become credible Ashes challengers.

But they cannot allow Flintoff to be bigger than the team, not when they have won more Tests without him than with him in the last four years. And not when his lack of Test hundreds and five-fors make it hard to still think of him as the irreplaceable all-rounder that he has always been considered.

In the Times, Mike Atherton says that although the issue may soon be forgotten if Flintoff and England perform well, it was very bad timing.

If it does emerge that Flintoff was drinking, Morris will be made to look both foolish and economical with the truth. Thanks, Fred.

Andrew Strauss didn't need it. Attempting to deflect criticism away from his all-rounder, he was forced to concede that what Morris called an “alarm clock issue” is not specific to Flintoff. The team, Strauss said, have a timekeeping issue generally. Ravi Bopara is known to have missed a team meeting this summer, but from what Strauss said yesterday, it is a more widespread challenge for his team to defeat. After that, the Aussies should be a cinch.

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