'I'm not the first person to announce Test retirement during a series and I won't be the last, but the occasion is bigger than that.'

Flintoff, who missed the defeat at Headingley Carnegie, is confident he will be fit to play in two days' time.

'I've been working with Dave Roberts (the England and Lancashire physio), had some batting over the weekend, and today a bowl. I'm confident I'll come through. I'm probably in a better state than I was going into the last Test [at Edgbaston]. I think I'm more or less there, I just have to prove it.'