Flintoff could be bigger than Botham

At least in the eyes of Kim Hughes, former Australian captain, there is no need for debate: Andrew Flintoff is, belatedly, the new Ian Botham and could go even further. And Hughes should know; he was captain during the 1981 Ashes series that Australia lost 3-1, a series remembered as `Botham's Ashes'.

"I try not to think about '81 because it gives me nightmares," Hughes told the Sydney-based Sun-Herald, "but as soon as I saw Flintoff, I thought, that's Both (Botham). It's Both all over again. He's a mirror image, but ... he's a bigger man physically than Ian and looks even more of an athlete."

Flintoff has had an exceptional all-round series this summer, scoring 322 at 40.25 and taking 19 wickets before the final Test at The Oval. Fourteen summers ago, Botham scored 399 runs, took 34 wickets and 12 catches (Flintoff has taken three).

But more than just the figures, says Hughes. "Flintoff and Both - they thrive on pressure and a competitive situation. It's their presence. As an opposition captain, you're not too sure what is going to happen. You're thinking, shit, if this bloke bats for an hour, he's not going to be blocking them back and he's not going to be 10 not out. He'll have taken the game away from us."

He dismissed the notion that both players were lucky. "Botham had a tremendous belief in himself and he was jammy, flukey. Flintoff is exactly the same. It happens too often just to be luck. They create luck. When they're batting, they get an inside edge but it doesn't hit the stumps. When they're bowling, someone gets an inside edge and it does hit the stumps. You think, you lucky bastard. But it keeps happening."

And Hughes, who had a wretched series in 1981 averaging only 25, suggested that Flintoff could even surpass the considerable achievements and legend of Botham. His bowling, said Hughes, is quicker than Botham's and he has now become a genuine strike bowler. Botham, on the other hand, found swing with the new ball but became a stock bowler later in the innings.

He added that Flintoff's batting, while comparable in strength with Botham's, possessed a sounder technique. But he said Flintoff had to keep performing at his current level for a few more years to confirm his standing as an all-time great.

"Flintoff could be a once-in-a-lifetime cricketer. England has had some fine players over the years, but none of them since Both have had the magic that Ian had. Flintoff has got it. We've got a great in Warne and now England have a champ of their own. Flintoff could end up being a player we're still raving about in 50 years. He's that good."