One England fan was berating me yesterday for being an “old grumpus”. He may have a point: there’s certainly a 12-year-old in north London who knows exactly what he means. So today I’m leaning the other way. Here are some reasons for England supporters – and any neutrals hoping for another classic Ashes – to be cheerful.
Fred’s up for it
Not content with being a top bowler, fine batsman, ace fielder and decent captain, Andrew Flintoff is also rather good at public relations. He gave great press conference yesterday, exuding bonhomie without veering off into bluster. He looked relaxed, eager, and raring to go. Dammit, he even looked fit.
There’s a proper vice-captain
For some reason, England don’t like naming a vice-captain, but we all know who it is this time: Andrew Strauss. Duncan Fletcher’s captains have a habit of getting injured and England have often got their boxers in a twist deciding who takes over. In 2001, Mike Atherton even returned for two Tests in place of Nasser Hussain, losing them both. Last winter Marcus Trescothick first inherited the captaincy, then abandoned it. For the first time since Nasser was vice-captain to Alec Stewart, eight years ago, England are going on tour with a ready-made deputy for the captain. Strauss has won a Test series as captain himself (unlike Flintoff), and if he is not too sore, he has all the attributes of an excellent no.2 – a cool head, a sharp mind, and a modest ego.
Posted by: andrew ibbotson at September 13, 2006 7:25 PM
Totally agree about the benefits of having a definite, proven vice captain. Stauss has an important part to play.
Responsibility brings out the best in him.
Posted by: will hopson-hill at September 13, 2006 8:31 PM
Agreed. Strauss can make sure flintoff sees the bigger picture and doesn't over-exert himself.
Posted by: hogmeister at September 13, 2006 9:15 PM
Totally agree Tim. Vice Captain Strauss will serve a number of purposes, not least he has the confidence of the team and he should be able to hold Freddie back when he wants to bowl his 30th over of the day
Posted by: Aditya at September 13, 2006 10:08 PM
Yeah, but who wants a captain who'll only end up overexerting himself? It's very nice to lead by example, but even Imran Khan and Ian Botham wouldn't have taken to bowling half their team's overs.
Furthermore, Flintoff is the kind of guy who needs to be left to do his stuff. I don't think he's the best innovator, but he can be a great motivator through inspirational performances. Strauss has the better record, let him lead. Let Freddie be vice-captain.
Posted by: Ben Howarth at September 14, 2006 3:43 PM
Surely Trescothick was a "ready-made vice-captain" in 2004/05 when we went to South Africa??? He had, after all, done the job well in the first test of the previous summer, the beginning of the 7 match winning streak!
Posted by: sushant at September 20, 2006 5:06 AM
the thing is that neither freddie nor strauss have got enough experience in captaining england.both of them looked naive at times(of course they had the injuries to contend with).so it makes sense if both of them can work together.worth remembering that flintoff overbowled himself in the first drawn test.which may have been the cause of his injury.so strauss can step up on those occasions.
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Tim de Lisle is a former editor of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, Wisden.com and Wisden Cricket Monthly, where he won an Editor of the Year award in 1999. He is now a cricket columnist for The Times and Cricinfo. A former feature writer on The Daily Telegraph and arts editor of The Independent on Sunday, he writes about rock music for The Mail on Sunday and was shortlisted for Critic of the Year in the British Press Awards 2005. He plays cricket in the park with his children, bowling mediocre offbreaks.
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