Flintoff prepares to bow out on biggest stage

The Ashes series reaches its climax at The Oval this week with the rubber tied at 1-1 and England needing to win to reclaim the famous urn.

The match is also Andrew Flintoff's swansong - the talismanic all-rounder is retiring from five-day cricket at the end of the summer - and he is determined to go out on a high. He said: "After all the injury problems I've had, a win here would cap off my career. And a loss would probably ruin it."

It has been an up and down series for England, who started badly but just survived the Cardiff Test before roaring back to take the lead - largely thanks to Flintoff - at Lords, they almost made it 2-0 at Edgbaston but then succumbed in shocking fashion inside three days at Headingly.

That defeat led to calls for blood-letting in England's middle order, and Ravi Bopara has been dropped. The campaign to bring veteran Mark Ramprakash into the fold ultimately failed and instead England opted to hand Jonathan Trott a debut in their biggest match since 2005.

Neither team has announced its line-up yet and both England and Australia are contemplating their bowling line-ups. England may play two spinners in their quest for 20 wickets and the Aussies may bring back Brett Lee.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING:

Ricky Ponting, the Daily Telegraph: "We want to win every game we play – and I'm sure England would be the same if the roles were reversed. We will go flat out to take the series 2-1. The signs are good after Headingley, especially with the way that our young quick bowlers have been performing."

James Anderson, the Evening Standard: "We try to win every game we play, of course, but we all know how important this one is, not just to us but also to the fans who follow England up and down the country and overseas. The football season may have started but it will be wall-to-wall cricket again if we can regain the Ashes."

Michael Vaughan, the Daily Telegraph: "[Flintoff] was a great player to captain. He could be difficult at times, because he is not the most professional cricketer, but with Fred you accept the whole package. To get the best out of him I used to deal with him on a one-to-one basis. Fred likes to be loved and he is quite soft at heart. He needs an arm around his shoulder because he does not respond to be ranted and raved at."

Lawrence Booth, the Guardian: "Andrew Flintoff has piled on the expectation ahead of his final Test by claiming victory over Australia at The Oval would rank as a greater feat than England's Ashes triumph in 2005."

Peter English, cricinfo.com: "Bringing in Flintoff and Panesar would create significant changes to an outfit that is also accommodating the debutant Jonathan Trott, who replaces Ravi Bopara, in the middle order. Ponting said calling up Trott for such an important match showed 'a bit of desperation'."

Jamie Pandaram, Sydney Morning Herald: "Brett Lee is back in the selection frame, Nathan Hauritz has been consulting a Pakistan spin great and Stuart Clark continues to fly under the radar as Australia's team for the fifth and deciding Ashes Test remains an unsolved jigsaw."

Dean Jones, Eurosport.Yahoo.com: "The Australian boys are going to go right for Jonathan Trott's throat when he makes his debut in the deciding Ashes Test at The Oval. They won't back off. He'll be sledged from the moment he comes to crease until the moment he's out. They'll be ready to needle him at every opportunity."