Don't rush Flintoff back says ex-captain Atherton

The all-rounder returned to action for Lancashire in March following an ankle injury and subsequent surgery and he is now aiming for a recall to the national side.

The 30-year-old has not played international cricket since the World Twenty20 in South Africa and he last appeared in a Test match in the disastrous Ashes tour which ended at the start of 2007.

Flintoff finished with four for 21 against Durham on Wednesday, but he was out for a golden duck and Atherton believes that it would be wrong to rush the player back.

Atherton said: "For his own sake and the good of the team he should not be picked, at least, not yet.

"What is the rush? England should beat New Zealand with the most frequently invoked relative in broadcasting - Geoffrey Boycott's mum - at the helm.

"Why not let Flintoff continue to bowl for Lancashire, so that he can take time to build confidence in his body and try to find some batting form before the tougher questions that South Africa will ask in the second half of the summer?"

His reference to Boycott was timely, with England insisting on Thursday that they have not approached the batting legend about becoming part of their management set-up with the senior squad.

A report on Thursday morning linked the 67-year-old former Yorkshire opener to a job as a part-time coach with England, while Derek Underwood was also rumoured to be joining the staff to look after the side's spinners.

Boycott was rumoured to have been lined up to work with Flintoff, who has now suffered two successive championship ducks, to help with his batting form as he attempts to force his way back into the England squad.

But, although the England and Wales Cricket Board admitted to holding "informal conversations" with Boycott, they claimed that he is being lined up to help with the age-group teams like the Under-19s rather than work with the senior squad.