But chief executive David Collier suggested on Sunday that Flintoff may be prevented from taking part if he is deemed a fitness risk in an Ashes year.
This however, is where my agreement with Neil stops, because he indicates that England will win the Ashes next year, which means he is not eating enough Vegemite.
There are increasing doubts in Australia that he will be around to face England in the Ashes next year, but no-one will be writing him off just yet.
Swann helped England regain the Ashes last year, claiming eight wickets in the decisive final Test victory at Oval and averaging 35 with the bat, which has also helped him to fourth place in the world all-rounder rankings.
During the Ashes series last year, Australian batsman Phillip Hughes revealed he had been dropped for the third Test through a "tweet".
The ashes of an 89-year-old naval veteran have been stolen from his empty home in Wiltshire, police have said.
England would prefer that the all-rounder concentrate on reaching peak fitness for this year's Ashes series against Australia rather go to India and risk suffering a relapse.
He missed the Ashes series against England last year after suffering a rib injury shortly before the opening clash in Cardiff, although he did play in the subsequent one-day series.
Confounding expectations in the opposite direction has been unfancied newcomer Hyderabad, born this year from the ashes of terminated franchise Deccan Chargers and currently riding high with five wins from seven.
With Simon Katich ruled out because of an Achilles injury, Australia are likely to turn to opener Phil Hughes, who was dumped after two Tests in last year's Ashes in England.
There, as a symbol it could be done, was 81-year-old Maurice Reeves, the man whose family furniture shop was reduced to ashes in last Summer's riots and who this year re-opened it.
The finale of the display was a rocket carrying some of the 24-year-old's ashes over the town.
Ponting took over as captain in early 2004 and led a losing side the following year when England won the Ashes for the first time in 18 years.
BBC: Ashes: Ricky Ponting vows to fight on as Aussie captain
In the old days (before the 1950s), a real log was doused with brandy and thrown on to the hearth, where its flames were scrutinised as a harbinger of the next year's harvest and its ashes preserved for good luck.
Nottinghamshire's Swann, 31, has taken 99 wickets in 45 games for England in the past year, and also starred in the Ashes and ICC World Twenty20 triumphs.
The standout event of the summer ahead is the World Twenty20 - in the West Indies - while England will also travel to Australia later in the year hoping to once again retain the Ashes.
Having mustered a strong total, not the 477 they made at the ground in the 2005 Ashes but considerably better than 198 against India last year, it was time for England to exploit the helpful bowling conditions.
That year he was regularly in the England XII for the Ashes Tests but he never made the final XI.
Former Glamorgan bowler Jason Gillespie, who spent a year with the county in 2008, says his 2005 Ashes team-mate is a good signing.
"I've got some good memories in England - the Ashes in 1997, the World Cup in 1999, and last year playing for Worcestershire, " he said.
"We know what Shaun can do, " said Hohns of the exciting 22-year-old, who made his Test debut during the Ashes.
BBC: SPORT | Cricket | International Teams | Australia | Gillespie gets vote of confidence
But it was the men, who won the Ashes, who walked off with the BBC Sports Personality Team of the Year Award.
Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph last year, Carson said he wanted to be cremated and his ashes scattered around Corporation Street in Belfast, where he grew up.
The 31-year-old opener, who had to return from the Ashes tour before the first Test, has been playing well for Somerset this season and was named in the provisional 30-man squad for the ICC World Twenty 20 in September.
Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen, two of the batting heroes of England's Ashes success against Australia last summer, were notable victims for the 23-year-old from Kothamangalam.
BBC: Sri Sreesanth gave an assured debut performance for India
The 29-year-old has been ruled out for the remainder of the Ashes because of an Achilles problem and there is no clear indication when he might return.
On Thursday, the ECB announced the squad to defend the Ashes in Australia this winter, with Swann, shortlisted for world player of the year, included.
The 31-year-old, who bowed out of Test cricket after England's Ashes win on Sunday, went under the knife on Monday.
The Sunday Star reports the death of a 79-year-old woman after trying to stop muggers stealing her husband's ashes.
BBC: UK newspaper review: Sunday papers look ahead to strike
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