Ponting: Flintoff move an omen

Andrew Flintoff's refusal to sign a contract with the ECB, effectively making him a gun for hire, could be a sign of things to come in the international game, Australia captain Ricky Ponting said on Tuesday night.

Continuing his trend of making headlines when he's not playing, Flintoff became a freelance international one-day player on Tuesday when he snubbed an incremental contract - a second-tier deal - from the ECB.

He was not offered a central deal on Saturday as he no longer plays Test cricket.

South Australia is in talks with Flintoff, already the holder of a lucrative US$1.5 million deal with IPL franchise Chennai Superkings, as is South African domestic side Titans.

Flintoff's situation crystallises the fears many national boards hold in relation to Twenty20 cricket and the riches it offers players.

If they cannot match the large sums offered by IPL franchises and other domestic sides, relying instead on a cricketer's national pride, they run the risk of losing 'ownership' of players.

Flintoff, who bowed out of Test cricket last month, is currently recovering from knee surgery but indicated he will take part in England's tour of Bangladesh next February, if selected.

Ponting, who recently retired from the international Twenty20 game in order to prolong his Test career, said he could understand the reasons behind Flintoff's decision.

Like Flintoff, Andrew Symonds is in a similar boat as he is also committed to playing the shorter versions of the game, though the latter had his Cricket Australia contract torn up earlier this year after another off-field indiscretion.

"It's inevitable that it's going to happen," Ponting said of the club v country divide.

"There are a number of one-day tournaments, Twenty20 tournaments that are being played at different times around the world and you can't play everything."

"So individual players are going to be making up their mind if they want to continue playing Test cricket and representing their country all the time or if they're going to go and play in these other tournaments, so it will happen."

As he is no longer playing Test cricket Flintoff's deal with the ECB is estimated to be worth no more than $60,000, which is only a small portion of what he could make outside of the international arena.

"The challenge now for the administrators, is it will be interesting to see what happens with him," Ponting said.

"Will England continue to pick him or not? I don't know what's going to happen there so that will be interesting to see."

England captain Andrew Strauss, whose team took another battering from Australia in the one-day series, said Flintoff needed to explain his actions before a decision could be made on his international future.

"Obviously there is a reason why he hasn't agreed to it and we need to find out what that reason is," Strauss said.

"I think if Freddie is committed to playing for England he's still a great asset for us in the shortest forms of the game, and I'm sure he still feels he's got a lot of cricket left in him, but it's a bit too early to react to this at this stage."

"It's a conversation the ECB will need to have with him and his management over the coming days."