According to the London Standard newspaper, Andrew Flintoff has been slagging off another former England captain Mike Atherton. What's more, there were plenty of four-letter words punctuating the tirade made at a Sky Tv party, and just because he'd clearly 'had a few' doesn't excuse such boorish behaviour.
One of Fred's moans about Athers was that he had no right to criticise Alastair Cook because the current ODI skipper has a better record than him. What he chose to forget is that whilst Flintoff is more often to be found in front of cameras in the jungle for some obscure TV channel, Atherton continues to earn a living in cricket, as writer or broadcaster. Consequently he is in a far better position to talk about player strengths and weaknesses than someone who couldn't even lead his way on to a pedalo.
Maybe it's a bit of a class throwback. Both were born in what was Lancashire, Athers in Falsworth and Flintoff in Preston. Mike went to the prestigious Manchester Grammar School, Fred's education was Ribbleton Hall High. Atherton proceeded to Cambridge University where he famously had FEC scribbled on his door (or something), denoting his reputation as a Future England Captain, a prophecy which became true surprisingly quickly. Meanwhile, Flintoff headed straight for a professional career with Lancashire at the time when his fellow Lancastrian was already a red rose hero and established captain of his country.
Sounds like the makings of a classic clash of backgrounds and personalities. He was a posh grammar school boy, the other a rumbustuous jack-the-lad who loved his beer. If it were a film, they would have reached a mutual respect and, needing 600 to win the Ashes, come together to score 300 apiece on the final day. Cue tears and stirring soundtrack. The End.
Sadly this isn't a film, and there clearly has never been chemistry there. Atherton's autobiography singled out Flintoff for disrupting the Lancashire dressing room with his ego and seeming preference for an unhealthy diet which almost finished his career before it had begun. His ankles gave out under the strain when he was barely 21 and they needed careful nursing before he finally called it a day a decade later.
It's irrelevant to the issue of Freddie's rant, but who was the better player? Atherton's Test average of 38 was nothing special but he captained a moderate England side a record 54 times in 115 appearances. By the time he played his last match, a thumping defeat against Australia at The Oval, he had passed the captain's armband to Nasser Hussain. He chose to retire at only 33, with a journalistic career beckoning. However, he was no namby-pamby Oxbridge college boy. Glenn McGrath may have been his nemesis, but that was true of lots of great batsmen. He was a gutsy opener and, whilst his first Test innings had lasted only 2 balls (lbw Alderman 0), his high point was a 492-ball 185 not out to save the 2nd Test against South Africa in 1995, when Allan Donald threw everything at him to no avail, earning a mountain of respect from the great fast bowler.
Flintoff achieved legendary status largely through his heroics in the 2005 Ashes series and drunken celebrations afterwards. There is no doubt that his all-round performances contributed hugely to that series triumph, and the photo of his genuine commiserations to Brett Lee after that narrow win showed the kinder face of 'Sir Fred' as sportsman. On the other hand, Flintoff can hardly boast of Test averages of 32 with bat and 33 with ball. Hardly the stuff of Kallis, Imran Khan or even Ian Botham. Nevertheless, he helped repopularise cricket in an era of wall-to-wall Premiership football, and was an excellent one-day player who produced some match-winning innings and wickets.
I can't judge who was the better player. After all, Fred, I didn't even play for my school, let alone England. They were two very different cricketers who each achieved great things. It's a shame that Flintoff can't accept that and move on.
