'I have no discord with Flintoff,' says Strauss

London, Aug.19 (ANI): England cricket captain Andrew Strauss has refuted suggestions and allegations of him having a discord with all-rounder Andrew Flintoff because of the latter's omission from the fourth Ashes Test at Leeds, saying both players understood each other well, and would be going into the fifth and final Ashes Test with all guns firing.

Stating that the England camp was in harmony, and adding that there was great excitement going into the Oval Test, Strauss said: "I've spoken to 'Fred' about the whole situation. We both know where each other stands on it - and it's just not an issue between us."

"At this stage of a tour, maybe people try to create things out of nothing - from in our ranks, there is not an issue there at all," The Independent quoted him, as saying.

Strauss said that he understood Flintoff's disappointment over not playing the fourth Test.

"You can understand why he'd be disappointed. It's his last couple of Tests, so he's dying to play. I think he understood the situation in terms of what we needed from him. With the doctors' advice, we felt he wasn't going to be in a position to give us that for that Test match - on the back of a lot of bowling previous to that," Strauss said.

Asked about Flintoff's well-being, Strauss reported: "It looks very promising. He's had some good time off; the swelling has gone down; we're happy with what he's done - things are looking pretty good. He got it through (in the nets) as he normally does. We're very encouraged by what we've seen so far.

"He's obviously a massive player for us. We're very fortunate to have a guy of that quality in our side - especially one that tends to 'up' his performances against Australia. Going into a must-win game like this, I'm far more comfortable as captain seeing his name on the team sheet," he added.

"We all want him to go out in a blaze of glory," Strauss confirmed. (ANI)