Colly's delight at Freddie's return

England one-day skipper Paul Collingwood is delighted to be able to have Andrew Flintoff alongside him as he bids to plot the downfall of India.

Collingwood began his reign with a 2-1 defeat at the hands of the West Indies and will be looking for his men to bounce back over the next three weeks against India's multi-talented side.

Flintoff is back in the England fold after three months on the sidelines after undergoing another operation on his troublesome ankle.

And Collingwood cannot wait to utilise the 29-year-old fit-again Lancastrian's all-round talents to help England's one-day strategy.

He said: "To have Freddie back in the side is a great feeling for me as captain and a great feeling for the England cricket team.

"He's pretty much two players in one and helps to balance the side out a lot better but he's a world-class performer as well and I'm sure he'll be ready for the challenges of international cricket again."

Collingwood has also backed under-fire wicket-keeper Matt Prior, who has been criticised for his glovework and constant chatter behind the stumps during the recent Test series against India.

The England limited overs skipper believes Prior can emerge stronger for the criticism.

He added: "I know he has come in for a lot of criticism, but we know he's a world-class batsman-keeper and he'll go out there hopefully with the same kind of approach he used against West Indies and prove to everybody that he is the player he is.

"This is when the character comes through and certainly I believe he's got the character to shine through. Sometimes it makes you a lot stronger when you get this kind of criticism and come out the other end on top.

"When he looks back on his career in ten years' time and hopefully he'll have achieved well for England, he'll probably be glad it's happened the way it has."

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