Andy Flower has already picked Ashes team

Andy Flower says he has already selected a likely England team for the first Ashes Test, but insists those not in it have plenty of time to change his mind.

With a month to go until England take to the field in Brisbane to begin their defence of the urn won last summer, team director Flower has already turned his attention to the opening match of the series. However, with three warm-up games to play prior to the 25 November curtain-raiser, Flower is refusing to rule out the prospect of people breaking into - or dropping out of - the side he has pencilled in.

"We are fairly clear with what we want," said Flower, who will rotate his squad during the warm-up period but admitted he could not promise everyone a game. "There is still flexibility for decisions based on confidence, form or any variety of conditions we'll come across."

If that was a message designed to keep his players on their toes, England fans will be hoping it resonates most with Kevin Pietersen. The country's star batsman is in the midst of arguably the biggest dip of his career, having failed to score a Test century since March 2009.

He was also forced to apologise for an expletive-laden rant on Twitter upon being dropped from the one-day side, while his recent attempt to rediscover his form ahead of the Ashes appeared to fall flat when he made 36 and a second-ball duck in his two first-class innings for South African side Kwazulu Natal Dolphins.

Yet, Flower is unconcerned about Pietersen's travails. He said: "He's very well; he enjoyed his trip to South Africa and he's in a very good state of mind ready for the tour.

"He didn't get many opportunities (for Natal]. Unfortunately, the way the games panned out, he only got one innings in each game. But he did some really good work with the Natal side and I think it would've stood him in good stead. He feels good about his cricket; he feels confident going into Australia."

As well as a fit and firing Pietersen, England will need James Anderson at 100 per cent to give themselves the best possible chance of retaining the urn. Seamer Anderson cracked a rib during the side's recent training camp in Germany but is already bowling again, and could even be involved in two of the three warm-up games Down Under.

"He's already bowling at 75 per cent, so he should be fine for the first Test," Flower said. "More than likely, he'll be okay for two of those warm-up games."

Anderson was injured during England's training camp in Bavaria this month while boxing against an unnamed team-mate - reportedly Chris Tremlett.Despite the setback, Flower had no regrets over the controversial camp, saying: "It's was an excellent camp, actually, and I think the players and management that were involved in it did things that they might never have done before in their lives and might never do again, and it was a very healthy experience."

England will head to Australia above their arch-rivals in the Test rankings following the latter's recent series defeat in India. But Flower questioned whether that made his side favourites, saying: "I'm not sure that is the case. I think they are fairly evenly-matched sides. We respect the opposition, but we don't fear them."