Flintoff Wants Team Mates To Pull Together

England's star all-rounder Andrew Flintoff wants his team-mates to pull together as they attempt to recover from last weekend's humiliating defeat by the West Indies in Jamaica.

England went 1-0 down in the four Test series after they were shot out for just 51, their third lowest total in Test Matches, and beaten by an innings and 23 runs by a West Indies side that few expected to test England.

The sides now move to Antigua for the second Test starting on Friday and Flintoff, a former user of Woodworm cricket bats, admits that England now face a test of character and team unity.

"The spirit's been good but maybe we need to draw on each other a little bit more," Flintoff said.

"Help your mates out, help each other to try and make the side successful. We have all the ingredients of a successful side and we have to put them all together.

"That's going to be the test for people, when you go through something like that you still have to back yourself and that's going to be the big test of character.

"You can talk about technique and work in the nets but it is all about how people respond to what's happened. It's very important we come back strong on Friday.

"Sides who perform well and perform well for a time are the ones who people say have a good relationship between them and this is a true test of us now, a real challenge.

"After the game we were very flat and probably a bit numb but as bad as it was in Jamaica, we can still win the series, we have to believe that.

"I can say this and that but on the cricket field we have to start scoring our runs and taking our wickets - I am confident we can do that."

Despite Flintoff's talk of England pulling together, rumours that he and former captain Kevin Pietersen, another former Woodworm bat user, refuse to go away, particularly after Flintoff was portrayed as failing to support Pietersen over the removal of Peter Moores as England coach.

"That's done and dusted, Kevin and I get on fine, no problems there," Flitoff claimed.

"That's happened, people talk about that being a distraction but we have moved on from there, we are trying to win Test matches not thinking about what happened a month ago.

"We have a fine relationship, we spoke about what happened and we have moved on.

"I don't think there is a link there, it would be easy to hide behind that.

"When you are standing in the middle and someone is coming in at you at 90-miles-per-hour, all you're thinking about is hitting the ball, and when you bowl, all you think about is how to get wickets, so I don't think we can fall back on distractions."