World XI will bounce back, says Flintoff

Ashes foes Andrew Flintoff and Adam Gilchrist agreed on Monday that the tarnished World XI's quality will come through in Friday's Super Test match against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The World XI's superstars were an embarrassment, going down by a massive 156 runs to the fired-up Aussies in Sunday's final one-dayer to lose the Melbourne series 3-0. This has raised fears that the six-day Test will be another flop.

But Flintoff, the scourge of the Australians with bat and ball as England regained the Ashes last month, believes the longer form of the game will allow the World XI more scope to realise their talents than in the scramble of the 50-overs format.

"It is a fine group of players coming together and in some ways probably playing Test cricket might be slightly easier than the one-day game. The one-day game is so structured and you have your own roles back in your country, and a few players had to play outside those roles. Whereas in Test cricket you just go out there and play, so there is no real structures to the game so hopefully we will be a better Test side," Flintoff explained.

Adam Gilchrist, the Australian vice-captain, judged Man of the Series - his pulsating 103 off 79 balls in the second game was the highlight - agreed with Flintoff and rated the World XI as favourites for the SCG Test. "He is probably right (about the) longer format, one-day cricket or like Twenty20 cricket the shorter the game the more of a bit of a lottery it can become. But in Test matches generally the quality wins out over time and they have great depth in quality and we feel like we have got it (as well), they will definitely put up a fight I am sure."

Flintoff, who was cleared by scans on Sunday for a fractured wrist after taking a blow while bowling to Ricky Ponting, believes he will be fit to play in the Test despite heavy bruising to his wrist. He said the world team had to improve dramatically to trouble Australia and dismissed the varied make-up of the team as an excuse.

"Playing for England and playing with a bunch of blokes you have played with for a long time with and come into a dressing room with people you don't necessarily know is going to be harder. But we are professional cricketers, we have to get out there and play and to be picked for a World XI -- two or three years ago I would never have thought I would have been playing, so there is a lot of prestige involved."

Flintoff said his world teammates didn't want to be embarrassed and expected them to bounce back. "We are not just representing our country but representing the rest of the world and we have to take pride and pleasure in doing that albeit we are not playing for actual countries."