Giant's causeway
By the end of the summer Andrew Flintoff was bringing the nation to its TV sets every time he went out to bat
John Stern
11-Jul-2005
In the November 2003 issue of The Wisden Cricketer John Stern charts the ups and downs of Andrew Flintoff
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Issue No. 2 - on sale from October 17 |
Is Andrew Flintoff the new Ian Botham? Of course he is. Not because he will score 5,000-plus Test runs (which he might) nor because he will take 300-plus Test wickets (which he won't). No, it is because when he has a bat in his hand he inspires the same visceral sensation in the spectator as did Botham. You know you want to watch, indeed you must in case you miss something momentous. Equally there is that excruciating hiding-behind-the-sofa feeling of dread that something horrible and terminal could occur any second. Watching Flintoff, like watching Botham before him, is a fairground ride: exhilarating, joyful and stomach-churning all at the same time.
In 2003 against South Africa Flintoff delivered - at Test level - on all the promises that his prodigious talent had made for him since he first played for England Under-19 in 1995. The eight years since then have themselves been a fairground ride for Flintoff.
July 1997 Maiden Championship century
Lancashire v Hampshire at Southampton
The moment in his career when, Flintoff says: "I really achieved something. But I got a pair in the next game so it's been up and down." Aged 19, Flintoff hit one six and 22 fours as he made 117,"an innings of considerable maturity" according to Wisden.
Beefy Index +1
Lancashire v Hampshire at Southampton
The moment in his career when, Flintoff says: "I really achieved something. But I got a pair in the next game so it's been up and down." Aged 19, Flintoff hit one six and 22 fours as he made 117,"an innings of considerable maturity" according to Wisden.
Beefy Index +1
June 1998 Hits Alex Tudor for 34 in an over
Lancashire v Surrey at Old Trafford
This was the day when Flintoff's exploits hit the national cricket consciousness. Adam Hollioake, the Surrey captain, declared on 254 for 1, leaving Lancashire to score 253 in 53 overs. Tudor, a former England Under-19 team-mate of Flintoff's bowling with genuine pace, was ripped apart. In all Flintoff scored 61 off 24 balls. But it was the 41st over of the innings, late in the day, that got tongues wagging. The lofted on-drive that bounced on to the concrete and through the gap between stand and sightscreen at the Stretford End was pure ITB. The over in its entirety went: 64444660 (including two no-balls which made the total runs scored off it 38).
Beefy Index +2
Lancashire v Surrey at Old Trafford
This was the day when Flintoff's exploits hit the national cricket consciousness. Adam Hollioake, the Surrey captain, declared on 254 for 1, leaving Lancashire to score 253 in 53 overs. Tudor, a former England Under-19 team-mate of Flintoff's bowling with genuine pace, was ripped apart. In all Flintoff scored 61 off 24 balls. But it was the 41st over of the innings, late in the day, that got tongues wagging. The lofted on-drive that bounced on to the concrete and through the gap between stand and sightscreen at the Stretford End was pure ITB. The over in its entirety went: 64444660 (including two no-balls which made the total runs scored off it 38).
Beefy Index +2
July 1998 Test debut
England v South Africa at Trent Bridge
This was supposed to the era of Team England, of inclusivity and improved dressing-room spirit. Yet the story goes that hardly anyone spoke to Flintoff to make him feel at home. "When I walked into the dressing room looking around at who was in there, it was quite daunting for a 20-year-old lad who hadn't done a great deal." England won by eight wickets to level the series. Flintoff made 17 but bagged a pair in England's subsequent series-winning victory at Headingley.
Beefy Index -2
England v South Africa at Trent Bridge
This was supposed to the era of Team England, of inclusivity and improved dressing-room spirit. Yet the story goes that hardly anyone spoke to Flintoff to make him feel at home. "When I walked into the dressing room looking around at who was in there, it was quite daunting for a 20-year-old lad who hadn't done a great deal." England won by eight wickets to level the series. Flintoff made 17 but bagged a pair in England's subsequent series-winning victory at Headingley.
Beefy Index -2
July 2000 Man of the match
England v Zimbabwe at Old Trafford
The preceding weeks provided Flintoff's lowest point as a professional cricketer. The press had been leaked a story from the England management that Flintoff's weight was a major concern. Playing Zimbabwe on his home ground was: "A horrible feeling. I felt everybody was looking at me. People were shouting things from the crowd. I had been wearing a back support but I didn't wear it that day in case it made me look bigger. At the press conference I was still angry and I blurted out, `Not bad for a fat lad'."
Beefy Index +2
England v Zimbabwe at Old Trafford
The preceding weeks provided Flintoff's lowest point as a professional cricketer. The press had been leaked a story from the England management that Flintoff's weight was a major concern. Playing Zimbabwe on his home ground was: "A horrible feeling. I felt everybody was looking at me. People were shouting things from the crowd. I had been wearing a back support but I didn't wear it that day in case it made me look bigger. At the press conference I was still angry and I blurted out, `Not bad for a fat lad'."
Beefy Index +2
July 2000 135 not out
Lancashire v Surrey at The Oval
David Gower said: "We have just watched one of the most awesome innings we are ever going to see on a cricket field." It was the quarter-final of the NatWest Trophy and Flintoff, batting at No. 3, hit four sixes and 19 fours on his way to 135 not out from 111 balls. Lancashire won by eight wickets with 14 overs to spare. The match award was a formality.
Beefy Index +1
Lancashire v Surrey at The Oval
David Gower said: "We have just watched one of the most awesome innings we are ever going to see on a cricket field." It was the quarter-final of the NatWest Trophy and Flintoff, batting at No. 3, hit four sixes and 19 fours on his way to 135 not out from 111 balls. Lancashire won by eight wickets with 14 overs to spare. The match award was a formality.
Beefy Index +1
October 2000 84 off 60 balls
England v Pakistan at Karachi
Five days earlier it was announced that Flintoff's back problem would not allow him to bowl at all during the winter and he would be going home before the Tests. He produced a vintage, match-winning display enabling England to chase down a total of more than 300 for the first time in a one-day international. Flintoff put on 138 in 17 overs with Graham Thorpe and England passed the Pakistan total of 304 with 16 balls to spare.
Beefy Index +1
England v Pakistan at Karachi
Five days earlier it was announced that Flintoff's back problem would not allow him to bowl at all during the winter and he would be going home before the Tests. He produced a vintage, match-winning display enabling England to chase down a total of more than 300 for the first time in a one-day international. Flintoff put on 138 in 17 overs with Graham Thorpe and England passed the Pakistan total of 304 with 16 balls to spare.
Beefy Index +1
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Andrew Flintoff: `exhilarating, joyful and stomach-churning' |
September 2001 Career heading off the rails
Flintoff's year had been miserable. He did not play a home Test in 2001 and made only two Championship fifties in 13 matches for Lancashire. At the end of the season he was taken aside by Neil Fairbrother and his agent Andrew `Chubby' Chandler and "given a bit of a bollocking". Flintoff asked Duncan Fletcher if he could attend the ECB National Academy in Adelaide before Christmas.
Beefy Index -2
Flintoff's year had been miserable. He did not play a home Test in 2001 and made only two Championship fifties in 13 matches for Lancashire. At the end of the season he was taken aside by Neil Fairbrother and his agent Andrew `Chubby' Chandler and "given a bit of a bollocking". Flintoff asked Duncan Fletcher if he could attend the ECB National Academy in Adelaide before Christmas.
Beefy Index -2
December 2001 Bodyline bowling,
England v India at Bangalore He was summoned from Australia as bowling cover for Craig White. Although his batting was a non-event against the Indian spinners his bowling took on a new dimension. In the third Test, as England fought in vain to square the series, Flintoff played Larwood to Nasser Hussain's Jardine. Pounding in around the wicket, he bowled with nagging accuracy, directing the ball into the ribs of Sachin Tendulkar and others. Flintoff finished with figures of 28-9-50-4 as England secured a first-innings lead of 98. Rain intervened but, despite his fourth successive single-figure score, Flintoff was man of the match.
Beefy Index -2
England v India at Bangalore He was summoned from Australia as bowling cover for Craig White. Although his batting was a non-event against the Indian spinners his bowling took on a new dimension. In the third Test, as England fought in vain to square the series, Flintoff played Larwood to Nasser Hussain's Jardine. Pounding in around the wicket, he bowled with nagging accuracy, directing the ball into the ribs of Sachin Tendulkar and others. Flintoff finished with figures of 28-9-50-4 as England secured a first-innings lead of 98. Rain intervened but, despite his fourth successive single-figure score, Flintoff was man of the match.
Beefy Index -2
January 2002 Shirt off
England v India at Mumbai
England tied the six-match one-day series when Flintoff bowled Javagal Srinath off the penultimate ball. His response was to whip off his shirt in celebration, an image that immediately passed into folklore. "It wasn't something I'd ever done before," he says. "Maybe it was the crowds or the occasion." Flintoff describes himself as "a batter who bowls" but he adds: "I tend to get more excited when I take a wicket - especially in India."
Beefy Index +2
England v India at Mumbai
England tied the six-match one-day series when Flintoff bowled Javagal Srinath off the penultimate ball. His response was to whip off his shirt in celebration, an image that immediately passed into folklore. "It wasn't something I'd ever done before," he says. "Maybe it was the crowds or the occasion." Flintoff describes himself as "a batter who bowls" but he adds: "I tend to get more excited when I take a wicket - especially in India."
Beefy Index +2
March 2002 Maiden Test hundred
England v New Zealand at Christchurch
"I looked up at the scoreboard and it said Flintoff 100 and I thought, `That can't be right'." Flintoff's maiden Test hundred was his first in any cricket since June 2001 when he made 120 for Lancashire against Durham University. His previous five Test innings had yielded only eight runs and his previous highest Test score was 42. He reached his hundred off 114 balls with a top-edged hook over the keeper's head - very Bothamesque.
Beefy Index +1
England v New Zealand at Christchurch
"I looked up at the scoreboard and it said Flintoff 100 and I thought, `That can't be right'." Flintoff's maiden Test hundred was his first in any cricket since June 2001 when he made 120 for Lancashire against Durham University. His previous five Test innings had yielded only eight runs and his previous highest Test score was 42. He reached his hundred off 114 balls with a top-edged hook over the keeper's head - very Bothamesque.
Beefy Index +1
February 2003 All-round class in losing cause
England v India at Durban
In common with the feast or famine nature of his career, 2002 went rapidly downhill. Diagnosed with a hernia in midsummer, Flintoff was picked for the Headingley Test against India when he should not have been. He then missed The Oval Test and, after an excruciating is-he-fit-or-isn't-he charade, all but the final one-day international in Australia as well. He made it to the World Cup in southern Africa and against the eventual finalists India he hit 64 off 73 balls after figures of 10-2-15-2.
Beefy Index 0
England v India at Durban
In common with the feast or famine nature of his career, 2002 went rapidly downhill. Diagnosed with a hernia in midsummer, Flintoff was picked for the Headingley Test against India when he should not have been. He then missed The Oval Test and, after an excruciating is-he-fit-or-isn't-he charade, all but the final one-day international in Australia as well. He made it to the World Cup in southern Africa and against the eventual finalists India he hit 64 off 73 balls after figures of 10-2-15-2.
Beefy Index 0
July 2003 The Pollock over
England v South Africa at Lord's
It was in a losing cause but the 104th over of England's second innings at Lord's passed into history with immediate effect. Flintoff had 118 by this stage and he had only James Anderson for company. He lifted Pollock over long-off for six, then carved the ball so hard through extra cover that it carried past Boeta Dippenaar's diving right arm for four. Next Flintoff creamed Pollock's slower ball through extra cover. Then Pollock went short and wide: same result. He almost took Pollock's right hand off with the next shot, a lofted straight drive for two - 20 off the over.
Beefy Index +1
England v South Africa at Lord's
It was in a losing cause but the 104th over of England's second innings at Lord's passed into history with immediate effect. Flintoff had 118 by this stage and he had only James Anderson for company. He lifted Pollock over long-off for six, then carved the ball so hard through extra cover that it carried past Boeta Dippenaar's diving right arm for four. Next Flintoff creamed Pollock's slower ball through extra cover. Then Pollock went short and wide: same result. He almost took Pollock's right hand off with the next shot, a lofted straight drive for two - 20 off the over.
Beefy Index +1
September 2003 Selfless, brutal 95
England v South Africa at The Oval
While Lord's was fun in the sun, this was serious. Flintoff had to be responsible and score quick runs at the same time. England were 502 for 7 overnight with a lead of only 18 and he had only 10 to his name. Having made only 20 off 50 balls, he hit 30 off the next 38 and 45 off the next 36, including two successive sixes off Makhaya Ntini, the second into the hospitality boxes at the Pavilion End. Still putting the team's needs first, he tried to sweep Paul Adams on 95 and was bowled - 423 runs in the series at 52.87. As he once said, not bad for a fat lad.
Beefy Index +2
England v South Africa at The Oval
While Lord's was fun in the sun, this was serious. Flintoff had to be responsible and score quick runs at the same time. England were 502 for 7 overnight with a lead of only 18 and he had only 10 to his name. Having made only 20 off 50 balls, he hit 30 off the next 38 and 45 off the next 36, including two successive sixes off Makhaya Ntini, the second into the hospitality boxes at the Pavilion End. Still putting the team's needs first, he tried to sweep Paul Adams on 95 and was bowled - 423 runs in the series at 52.87. As he once said, not bad for a fat lad.
Beefy Index +2
John Stern is editor of The Wisden Cricketer
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