My mate Freddie Flintoff is on course to give England's Ashes hopes a massive lift by being fit and ready to take on the Aussies.

Talking to him at Old Trafford during Somerset's LV County Championship clash with Lancashire convinced me that, barring an unforeseen setback, Fred will be ready to play a massive part in the series, which starts at Cardiff on July 8.

He was bowling and training before play and at lunchtimes during our four-day game and looked pretty good. When we chatted he confirmed he was feeling fine.

I don't think he is far off being match-fit and it's just a case of getting some time in the middle and overs under his belt.

It may be that he is not at full pace to start with, but from what I saw it won't be long before he is up around 90 mph again.

All bets are off as far as I am concerned. He will be out there against Australia and it's just a case of whether he can get enough match practice in time for the First Test.

His presence will give us a much greater chance of winning back the urn and, unlike the Aussies, England may yet go into the series on the back of a successful Twenty20 World Cup campaign.

That didn't look likely last Friday night as the nightmare against the Netherlands unfolded. I got so wrapped up following the game via text in the Manchester hotel Somerset were staying in that I phoned home during the final few overs.

Picture the scene of me listening intently on my mobile while my wife Hayley pressed our home phone up against the TV so I could hear the commentary. What a way to experience Stuart Broad's amazing final over!

It was awful to listen to, knowing what defeat would mean in terms of media coverage and our prospects for the rest of the tournament.

We didn't make enough runs after a good start from Ravi Bopara and Luke Wright.

The lesson was that you can't go in and blast it from ball one, no matter who the opposition are, because there have to be meaningful partnerships.

I don't know if England took the Netherlands too lightly. What I can say is that Twenty20 is a unique game and you only have to look at what happened to Australia to see that rankings count for very little. The world champions went out with a whimper.

Scotland gave New Zealand a fright in a game reduced to seven overs a side and the short format does bring teams closer together.

I don't blame Stuart Broad for having a shy at the stumps off the final ball to try to avoid the tie and the super over decider, which is akin to a penalty shoot-out. But where was the backing-up? In the dressing room afterwards, I bet a few players were wishing they had shown more anticipation and got in the vicinity of the stumps, but things happen so quickly under great pressure in such situations and it's easy to be wise after the event.

Broad is a strong character and to come back from that horror over, when a few other chances went begging, to take 3-17 in the win-or-bust match with Pakistan proved as much.

Knowing Paul Collingwood, I'm sure he stayed calm after the Netherlands game and got the lads to focus on the fact that they could still win the tournament.

The performance against Pakistan was exceptional in the circumstances and revolved around the return of Kevin Pietersen, who was largely responsible for getting England up to 185 – a more than respectable total in international Twenty20.

I also thought bringing in Dimitri Mascarenhas for Rob Key, who was wasted batting at six against the Netherlands, was the right move.

Dimi is a destructive hitter in the middle order and a more than useful bowler. He and Jimmy Anderson nipped the ball around under the lights at The Oval and England certainly profited from batting first.

It was a big win in every sense and now I think we could be stronger for having lost the opening game. It will have focussed everyone fully on what is required and I think we have a better chance of going all the way than when the tournament started.

Our Super Eight group could hardly be tougher, with India, West Indies and South Africa also involved.

And this evening's game against my tip as the eventual winners – South Africa – should be one to savour.

England could lose to all three Super Eight opponents, but we are also capable of winning all three games.

Tonight could be all about how we handle the South Africa spinners, Roelof Van der Merwe and Johan Botha, who as I predicted last week, are already having a big influence on the competition.

We need to be positive against them. South Africa are renowned for the power of their batting, but showed they can also defend a low score with good bowling and dynamic fielding against New Zealand.

They are not invincible, but they don't have any discernable weaknesses. If we can beat them, we can beat anyone.