Andrew Flintoff is past his prime and England should learn to play without him, feels former skipper Mike Gatting.

Gatting said England can win the Ashes against Australia without the controversial all-rounder , who now plays more as a bowler, and can be replaced.

"You would not want to because he (Flintoff) gives you so much, but England need to learn to play without him," Gatting was quoted as saying in the Times.

"We won without him against the West Indies when, to me, Graham Onions was a revelation.

"The way people are talking at the moment, you wouldn't expect Freddie to get any runs, but you know he'll get wickets and bowl well for you, so you're talking about replacing bowler for bowler - and we have the ability to do that," he added.

Freddie needs to be handled

"In a good group of players you will generally have difficult players. You just have to handle them."

Gatting, who is the ECB managing director of cricket partnerships, also heaped praise on skipper Andrew Strauss.

"He's done very well with Andy Flower (the England team director) to cross some choppy waters very quickly," he said.

"There's a lot of forward thinking and progress been made from what could have been a very messy situation. It takes strong characters to do that," he said.