I am what I am due to Freddie Flintoff
"When I was the England captain, there were periods I felt Andrew Flintoff was draining me, as I was spending so much time managing him," writes Michael Vaughan in the Telegraph
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
"When I was the England captain, there were periods I felt Andrew Flintoff was draining me, as I was spending so much time managing him," writes Michael Vaughan in the Telegraph. "But when you retire, you look back on your career and I've realised I would not be doing what I am doing now, or have the reputation I have, without Freddie Flintoff."
I made things very simple. I used to tell him to watch the ball and hit it so he would be entertaining the crowd and entertaining me on the balcony. I told him that was his job. With the ball, he just wanted to do the basics, such as hit the top of off stump. He did not like to bowl slower balls because he didn't think he had to. He didn't want any fancy field setting.
He was not a believer in the modern ways. He couldn't understand the fitness work and the little gimmicks that, say, a Duncan Fletcher would bring to the team or a Paul Collingwood would suggest in a team meeting. Over a period he would frustrate the majority of the team because he didn't need to do a lot of the things the others had to go through. Fred was just too good. His abilities were natural.
George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo