ANDY Flintoff's agent Andrew Chandler today held out an olive branch to Lancashire as chairman Jack Simmons hinted that Neil Fairbrother was in line to be appointed player-coach.

Chandler, reacting to reports that Flintoff would be leaving Lancashire after his current contract expired on Thursday, said: "Andrew wants to play for Lancashire for 14 or 15 years, not 14 or 15 months, and I am sure we can sort something out.

"It's just not true to say we've been speaking to other counties since Thursday."

Chandler insists that Lancashire's written contract offer to Flintoff falls short of what they had promised him verbally earlier in the summer - although Simmons and the committee respond that they cannot increase that written offer without breaking the cash-strapped club's pay structure.

But Chandler remains hopeful that the stalemate can be broken in the next week or so - with another meeting of the Old Trafford cricket committee on Monday night.

The coaching issue will also be discussed, and possibly decided, at that meeting, with Lancashire still to decide on a successor to Dav Whatmore, who left in mid season.

Fairbrother, who is also out of contract, has thrown his hat into the ring, saying: "I have coaching ambitions - it's the next step I would like to take."

And chairman Simmons, a former team-mate of Fairbrother's said: "I quite like the idea of promoting from within.

"A totally new man would have to bed himself in, as Dav did, and I'm wondering whether or not we need one."

Fairbrother worked closely with captain John Crawley and the other senior pros as Lancashire finished last season in superb style after the departure of Whatmore, and Crawley will surely be consulted before the committee make any decision.

Crawley is also still to put pen to paper on his new contract even though the club have already announced that he will be captain next season - they are facing a busy autumn.

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