England’s best all-rounder since Ian Botham has become a national sporting icon hitting the ball as hard as anyone in the game today
In cricket, an all-rounder is a player who is good at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat at some time, many of them are not very skilled and most are not considered to be all-rounders. There is some confusion as to the precise definition that a player needs to fit in order to be considered an all-rounder. The generally accepted criterion is that a genuine all-rounder is someone whose batting or bowling skills, considered alone, would be good enough to win them a place in a cricket team. By this definition, true all-rounders are quite rare, and extremely valuable to a team since they can effectively count as an extra player. England’s Andrew Flintoff is one of them. He has the ability to change the course of a Test match or One-Day International either by batting or bowling.
Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff is an English cricketer and one of the best all-round cricketers in the world. He is an integral member of the England bowling attack with the ability to bowl at genuine pace allied to seam movement. His batting is now disciplined and a potent threat whatever his position in the batting order and he is looked upon as one of the safest pair of hands in the England team.
Flintoff, the deceptively quick and agonizingly accurate fast bowler, has inconvertibly touched the giddy heights of his fabulous international career, a point from where he can neither come down or climb upwards momentarily - his career has flourished amicably beyond mediocrity and has, in fact, reached its climax.
In the second Ashes Test against Australia at Edgbaston in August 2005, he was declared Man-of-the-Match after he broke Ian Botham’s 1981 record of six sixes in an Ashes Test with five in the first innings, and another four in the second innings. In the same game he took a total of seven wickets (both innings) and managed all this despite a shoulder injury early in the second innings. England won the game by the narrowest of margins — just two runs. England captain Michael Vaughan subsequently dubbed the match ‘Fred’s Test’ in honour of Flintoff’s achievement. For his achievements throughout the 2005 Ashes series, which was won by England 2-1, he was named as ‘Man of the Series’ by Australian coach, John Buchanan. His outstanding achievement also won him the inaugural Compton-Miller Medal. He said: “I watched the Ashes as a kid and to be involved in it and play a major role in an England victory has been unbelievable.”
Flintoff hits the ball harder than any English cricketer since Ian Botham. His more murderous shots include hitting the fast bowler back over his head, and a cover-drive, which is as much about brute strength as timing. The hammer over long-on isn’t too bad either, although his lack of pace between the wickets makes him dangerously over-reliant on boundaries, and his stiff-wristed technique is cruelly exposed whenever he sets foot on the subcontinent.
But his selection for Rod Marsh’s ECB Academy seemed to give him the motivation he needed, and when England SOSed for him during the Indian tour, his bowling had been transformed. Before long he was tearing in with the new ball, touching 90mph on occasions. In New Zealand in 2002 he made the crucial breakthrough of scoring his first Test century. The Christchurch Test featured a Flintoff classic with his 137 coming from only 164 balls faced. His partnership with Graham Thorpe of 281 was crucial to the England cause and eased his side to victory. He followed this up with a quick-fire 75 in the next Test from only 44 balls which added to his growing reputation.
He was captain of the England Under-19 cricket team for their ‘Test’ match tour to Pakistan in 1996/7 and at home against Zimbabwe in 1997.
Flintoff made his Test match debut for the England cricket team in 1998 against South Africa, after which his early career was hampered by a series of back problems and a tendency to lose his wicket too readily when batting while trying to score runs. In the summer of 2003 Flintoff continued to progress and he played two innings against South Africa that will be recalled for many years to come.
His fine form continued as he played a key role during England’s successful tour of the Caribbean, including an unbeaten century in the fourth Test in Antigua.
On his return to England for the summer of 2004, he made a half-century in all three Tests as England whitewashed New Zealand. A thrilling 167 saw him win the Man-of-the-Match award in the second npower Test against the West Indies at Edgbaston and he then shone on his home ground of Old Trafford in the third Test. He took six wickets in the match and hit an unbeaten 57 as England reached their target of 231 — to win by seven wickets. Flintoff also made 72 in England’s 10-wicket victory in the fourth Test which completed a series whitewash and it was no surprise when he was named the home side’s Man-of-the-Series. In 2004, he was named as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year and the ICC’s One-day International player of the year. He had notched up 551 runs at the amazing average of 78.71 in One-Day internationals and also took 12 wickets at an average of 20.50.
The Lancashire all-rounder continued his imperious form in the NatWest Challenge with India and saw England home by seven wickets in the first match at Trent Bridge with 34 not out. England wrapped up the series 2-0 in the second match at The Oval after Flintoff’s 99 from 93 balls enabled the home side to set an imposing total of 307.
Andrew Flintoff was born on December 6, 1977 in Preston. He was first nicknamed Fred or Freddie by John Stanworth, the captain of Lancashire’s second XI, when he was a teenager because his name was similar to Fred Flinstone. Flintoff hardly played cricket at his school, Ribbleton Hall High school, but played alongside his father and elder brother at Harris Park, and then joined St Anne’s and batted number three in the year they won the league.
The highest score of his life is 232 not out for St Anne’s (Under 15) Cricket Club against Fordham Broughton. He recalls that “it was a 20-overs-a-side game, played on an artificial wicket, and I remember getting dropped when I’d scored just six. You don’t forget days like that, whatever the standard you’re playing in”.
At 16, Flintoff was snapped up by David Lloyd, then Lancashire’s coach. His first class debut came against Hampshire in August 1995. It was not good. He scored seven and a duck and dropped five catches.
Flintoff’s improved Test average of 25 to now being 33, is a massive improvement.
A useful and economical fast bowler, his development has been hindered by back trouble. His batting can be explosive, but he has learnt patience when conditions do not suit all-out attack. He plays straight and times the ball well. Particularly strong off the front foot, he can also cut, and pulls savagely. County cricket witnessed some of Flintoff’s most explosive batting moments which included a Roses match score of 160, of which 111 came before lunch, and a 61-ball century against Gloucestershire at Bristol which was the fastest hundred of the season.
He also notched 143 off only 66 balls against Essex in 1999. He once hit a six at Old Trafford that landed some 140 yards beyond the boundary in an adjoining car park.
In September 2005 an extract from Flintoff’s autobiography, Being Freddie, was published in The Times. In it, he claimed that he had been shot at while fielding near the boundary in an ODI in New Delhi in 2002.
In cricket, an all-rounder is a player who is good at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat at some time, many of them are not very skilled and most are not considered to be all-rounders. There is some confusion as to the precise definition that a player needs to fit in order to be considered an all-rounder. The generally accepted criterion is that a genuine all-rounder is someone whose batting or bowling skills, considered alone, would be good enough to win them a place in a cricket team. By this definition, true all-rounders are quite rare, and extremely valuable to a team since they can effectively count as an extra player. England’s Andrew Flintoff is one of them. He has the ability to change the course of a Test match or One-Day International either by batting or bowling.
