Thursday, September 28 2006 14:06 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: Andrew Flintoff is optimistic he will be able to bowl during next month's ICC Champions Trophy one-day tournament in India following surgery on his left ankle.

England has been planning to play their inspirational captain and leading all-rounder as a batsman only in the lead-up to their defence of the Ashes starting in Australia in November.

The 28-year-old quick has insisted he will bowl only if he reaches full fitness.

"I'm confident I'll be fine after the work I've done so far," he says.

"The 12-week rehab programme finishes in mid-October, to coincide with the India trip, so it will depend on how the next few weeks go."

"It's going well at the moment. I'm nine weeks post-op, and everything I've done has responded well to the operation."

"I've been batting, I've done a few walk-through drills with the ball and I'll build up over the next few weeks and see how I feel when I start to bowl a bit quicker."

Flintoff delivers his fitness update at a book signing in London to launch 'Freddie My World', in which he voices fears that the international careers of top-class players will inevitably be shortened by the seemingly non-stop round of Tests and one-day internationals.

"I believe careers are going to get shorter with the amount of cricket we are playing," he says.

"It's not seasonal for us any more. We play in the summer and then we go away. If you look at the schedule we have got in the next few months there's not a great deal of time off. "

"We've got the ICC Trophy, the Ashes; then when we get back from the World Cup we start back again in England next (northern) summer."

"For bowlers, especially, it's inevitable - with the strains and stresses - that they won't be able to go on as long as players did in the past."

But Flintoff, who misses most of the recently concluded English season rejects suggestions made by legendary England all-rounder Ian Botham that he should miss the Champions Trophy in order to be fully fit for the Ashes.

"I can't wait to go to India, to be honest," says Flintoff. "I've missed 12 weeks of the season. I've trained hard and worked hard to get back out on the cricket field, so India is something I'm desperately looking forward to."

Flintoff the star of last year's series against Australia, believes England can overcome the loss of injured key players such as Ashes-winning skipper Michael Vaughan and pace bowler Simon Jones to win their first Test series 'down under' in 20 years.

"In 2005 we were fortunate that we used only 12 players through the whole series," Flintoff says

. "Since then we've been a little bit unlucky with injuries. But we've a good team, a young team - quite inexperienced in some ways - but we are very excited about the prospect of playing Australia again. We'll be okay."

"Some of the younger lads have now got more experience and have come to the forefront, so we will go there confident and enjoy it. It's going to be amazing for us."

"Australia is the best side in the world. We played well against them in 2005 and did exceptionally well to beat them - and we need to play like that again."

"They have some world-class players - and to do it again this winter we are going to have to be very, very good."

Flintoff admits Australia has bounced back 'brilliantly' from the Ashes setback but takes heart from England's recent Test success against Pakistan.

"After beating Pakistan, we are taking a little bit of momentum to Australia." The first Ashes Test starts in Brisbane on November 23.