London, Dec. 23 (ANI): England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff is on course to be back in training at the turn of the year following his latest medical check-up.

Flintoff, who is recovering from ankle surgery, has been given the green light to start batting again as soon as he has polished off his last turkey sandwich - but bowling is still some way off, The Mirror reports.

“I’m looking forward to starting cricket exercises again, hopefully early in the New Year. As long as I don’t have any setbacks, I should be able to bat against a bowling machine. It will be good just to start playing some form of cricket again after all this time. It will be great to start hitting balls again. When all you do is go to the gym every day, you can almost forget that you’re a cricketer,” Flintoff said.

“The one thing I’ve been thinking about is how I’m going to approach batting once I do start playing again. Now I’m only playing the short form of the game, I should have the opportunity to tailor my game towards that,” he added. (ANI)