A day of the Lord’s Test was devoted to the Ruth Strauss Foundation, the charity arrange by Andrew Strauss in reminiscence of his late spouse. His ’05 opening associate, Marcus Trescothick, stays throughout the internal sanctum as England’s batting coach.
Generally, for 2 months straight, you might not open your inbox with out being greeted by a PR e-mail providing the tuppence of one of many ensemble forged. And but by all of it, the person who emerged from that well-known summer season with twin accolades as each nationwide hero and treasure was nowhere — or, no less than, nowhere to be seen.
As we now know, Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff was an incognito presence at a number of of the 5 Test matches throughout the course of June and July, maintaining out of the limelight, as he had for the earlier 9 months whereas recovering from the automobile crash that nearly took his life.
In reality, even with out information of that horrifying incident, Flintoff’s absence from the Ashes circus wouldn’t have come throughout as uncommon. While so a lot of his contempories discovered that life after cricket consisted of extra cricket, whether or not in backrooms, boardrooms or commentary cubicles, the all-rounder had opted broadly to depart the game behind.
There had been transient dabbles within the contrasting worlds of boxing and musical theatre, however real, extended success in a tv post-career, most notably as an everyday captain on panel present A League Of Their Own after which presenter on Top Gear . It was whereas filming for the latter late final 12 months that Flintoff’s open-topped, three-wheeled automobile flipped whereas travelling at greater than 120mph.
The severity of that incident was made clear when Flintoff quietly emerged back into the public gaze final week, nonetheless sporting harsh facial scars as he took up an unannounced (and unpaid) function on England’s teaching workers for the continuing one-day sequence towards New Zealand.
Were these of us in Cardiff eagle-eyed sufficient to identify precisely who was working fielding drills from below a bucket hat and baseball mitt throughout the Sophia Gardens outfield, it will have made for an uplifting sight.
But this isn’t merely a narrative of cricket opening its arms to one among its greats in want, for all that could be a stunning factor. For all sport clearly has a lot to supply Flintoff at this second, he nonetheless has a lot to offer it, too.
The present England facet is constructed round a core of gamers of their early thirties for whom the 2005 Ashes was a formative sequence and to whom the likes of Flintoff and Pietersen had been real idols. None of these discussing the previous’s involvement this week have performed so with out a sure glow and glint.
Captain Jos Buttler known as him a “legend”, fellow Lancashire man Liam Livingstone “one of my heroes growing up”, whereas seam bowler David Willey mentioned it was “surreal receiving compliments from Freddie”.
Beneath, a technology of cricketer is starting to emerge for whom, scary because the thought is, 2005 is past recollection. To them, Flintoff would little doubt make a fantastic, empathetic mentor, a macho determine, sure, but in addition one among vulnerability, having opened up previously on his struggles with despair, bulimia and alchohol abuse. The similar mix of understanding and inspiration has helped make Ben Stokes one of many nation’s excellent sporting leaders.
And there’s extra. In the wake of the damning report revealed on equality within the recreation earlier this 12 months, the England & Wales Cricket Board is on a significant push to have interaction underrepresented teams, together with these from black and Asian and economically deprived backgrounds, and simply this week introduced £2million of further funding to assist 5 key neighborhood organisations increase their excellent work.
For an indicator of Flintoff’s motivations and potential influence past the boundary, one want solely have watched his Field of Dreams tv sequence, as 3.3million individuals did final 12 months, and been taken in by the story of an unlikely crew of children whose preconceptions of a fancy pursuit above their station are shattered by an England nice.
It can’t be misplaced on these at ECB Towers, as they attempt to promote their recreation as open to all, that the cricketer with maybe extra name-recognition than every other within the nation stays a state school-educated lad from Preston.
Flintoff’s return to cricket is, for now, with out contract or dedication, his involvement with England because of finish following Friday’s Fourth ODI at Lord’s. How nice it will be for all events had been it to change into one thing extra.
