Freddie has to play through pain-barrier for England's sake: Stewart

London, Dec 9 (UNI) England need a miracle to come back in the Ashes and for that to happen captain Andrew Flintoff will have to beat his ankle pain and continue to lead the side despite growing concerns about the work pressure on the talismanic all-rounder, feels former skipper Alec Stewart.

''I think it has only been done once before in history to come back from two nil down. If it had been one-nil down coming here I'd have fancied our chances. But now we need a miracle,'' Stewart was quoted by the 'Mirror' as saying.

''He has to play through the pain barrier to get out there. You never play 100 per cent fit and once you declare yourself fit you just carry on,'' he added.

Amid growing speculation about Flintoff's workload after he took over the captaincy from an injured Michael Vaughan, Stewart said the all-rounder himself is the best judge of his overall fitness.

''Andrew has had these ankle injuries, but if he has said he is fit then he just has to get on with it. England will need him to be at his best. You want your captain and your best all-round cricketer to be out there, which Flintoff is,'' he explained.

Flintoff underwent an ankle surgery before the Ashes and doubts were expressed about his fitness after he complained of pain in the operated ankle following the second Test in the Adelaide.

The troubling ankle was scanned as a precautionary measure and he was declared fit but concerns still remain about the injury. Any injury to Flintoff at this stage would be a blow to an already depleted England side, which has lost the opening two matches of the Ashes.

Stewart, meanwhile, also felt that England coach Duncan Fletcher was being wrongly blamed for the poor performance of the team so far. The former captain said the responsibility of the loss lay with the players.

''I'm very disappointed with the criticism of Duncan Fletcher,'' Stewart said.

''To me, Duncan is the best coach I worked with throughout my career and I always say the coach prepares and the players play.

They'll be well-prepared and when they don't play, the players have to take responsibility. They didn't bat the way they batted in Adelaide on day five,'' he added.

''I will stick up for him and it is the players who really need to say they didn't play well enough.'' UNI XC PM PDS GC1434