LONDON, Oct 11: Mike Gatting, the last England captain to win a Test series in Australia, has implored his former team to ease the burden on captain Andrew Flintoff when the Ashes campaign starts there next month.

Gatting drew parallels between Flintoff and the situation he encountered with his leading all-rounder Ian Botham in Australia in 1986-87.

“The management must be very strict with Andrew,” the former Middlesex batsman told reporters at Lord's. “One of my worries is that he's a bit like Beefy, he's going to be playing a lot of cricket so he has to get away and relax at times.

“But I hope the likes of Andrew Strauss, his vice captain, will take up a lot of the off-the-field media strains along with coach Duncan Fletcher to give Flintoff the time to stay fresh.

“They must sit down and look at that because that's one of their biggest problems as far as I'm concerned.”

Gatting, who captained England 23 times between 1986 and 1988, said the pressure of having to deliver with bat and ball was difficult enough to cope with.

NO CURFEW:Unlike Botham in 1986-87, all-rounder Flintoff must also shoulder the burden of captaincy. “On our trip to Australia I said to Beefy: 'Go out and enjoy yourself away from the cricket',” said Gatting.—Reuters