Abdullah719
T20I Captain
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2013
- Runs
- 44,825
The old Andrew Flintoff is talking about The New Andrew Flintoff. ‘I genuinely don’t think there is a comparison. He’s better than me. I’m not being humble here or playing myself down. I was decent, yes. But Ben Stokes can be another level. He needs to set his sights higher.’
Set his sights where? ‘Don’t call him an all-rounder, for a start. He’s better than that! I always thought being an all-rounder suggested you can do a bit of everything but you’re not a master of any of it. Ben Stokes can bat. He’s a batter.
‘We look for this mythical all-rounder in our country, a player who is Superman. And then when he’s not, we like to pick faults.
‘Stokes is more than that. He could bat at three for England. He could be the best pick at No 3 for any country in the world.
‘He can be another Joe Root. He’s a proper batsman. You see his technique, shot selection, aggression.
‘Oh, he can bowl too. We’ve seen that. Ask the South Africans. Trust me, he’s better than me, better than Ian Botham too. Beefy was a hero of mine, but Stokes is a better cricketer. Better than all of us.’
They’ve only met a handful of times, they are not agency stablemates or friends, so this joy in Stokes’s growing status is genuine. Flintoff’s kids ‘love watching Stokes play’ and he was at The Oval where Stokes was man of the match for his all-round display to help England to a 2-1 series lead. He will go to Old Trafford for the final Test starting on Friday too.
This debate, comparing Flintoff with Stokes, came about because Stuart Broad was dazzled by a spell of hostile fast bowling from the Durham man. ‘Ben had the wind behind him and his bouncer that hurt Dean Elgar really fired him up,’ said Broad. ‘I was fielding at mid-on and it felt quick. It felt like one of those intimidating spells Andrew Flintoff used to bowl, heavy and at the batsman. He dragged the team with him.’
Flintoff accepts the compliment with a smile. These days he is doing a lot of smiling.
He’s lost weight, looks well, is taking acting and singing lessons and is soon to appear in the musical of Fat Friends. But before that, he is happy to eulogise about Stokes and this present England team, of whom he says: ‘It’s not about if they will win The Ashes, but by how much?’
He continues: ‘People won’t agree with this — because we like to talk down our teams — but this can be the best England team of all time.
‘Think about it. We’ve got the best batsman ever, Alastair Cook, England’s best bowler in Jimmy Anderson, the captain, Root, who can be whatever he wants to be, Stuart Broad’s figures are excellent. Jonny Bairstow at seven. Stop talking about why he should bat up the order. Moeen Ali batting at No 8. And Ben Stokes!
‘England will win the Ashes this winter. I just want them to stop concentrating on what they can’t do and think about what they can.’
Stokes is one of the players who has helped Flintoff fall back in love with the game. ‘You look at the games Ben Stokes is playing. When I was playing, there were a few teams that weren’t up to much. Sri Lanka were average. India were average, New Zealand (screws up face) . . . now every team can beat everyone else. You don’t get five or six wickets and go through a team. As a bowler it’s harder.
‘As a batsman, it’s not just about facing raw pace. The bowlers you face are more skilful. So Ben is emerging at a time when it’s a lot harder. I’m glad we are sitting here excited about him. So we should be.
‘I saw him at Old Trafford a few years back and Steve Harmison said, “This lad is going to be the next thing, even better than we’ve seen”. For some people it takes longer to adapt to international cricket and Ben has a little bit. And now . . . his bowling is getting better. I was better at the end of my career than I was when I was young because you start to figure it out.
‘I never bowled as quick or as well as when I was 31. He’s getting better all the time. We were there at The Oval last week. We saw it. When he played in the Big Bash a couple of years ago, they didn’t even bowl him. Now? He’s your go-to guy.’
Unsurprisingly, Flintoff, a swashbuckling star of his time, insists we have to accept Stokes warts and all.
‘He’ll get a ban some time. Of course he will. He’s two demerit points away, isn’t he? It’s going to happen. But you can’t have all that fire, match-winning performances with the bat and the ball and ask him to change.
‘The game has changed. I got called in once by Clive Lloyd and he said, “Don’t do that again”. I said, “OK, I won’t . . . ” That was it. Now Kagiso Rabada gets a one-game ban for totting up points for indiscipline. That’s harsh. It will happen to Ben too.
‘He’s a better cricketer in a battle. On the big stage. He loves it. Don’t change him. Accept him. Enjoy every game he plays.
‘He’ll get injuries. I hope he doesn’t but I fear it’s inevitable the way he plays. You watch him on the field, diving about into advertising hoardings, chasing every ball down. He will get injured but he’s going to have an exciting career.’
It means Stokes is hot property. He cost £1.4m in the last Indian Premier League auction and there is a risk he could earn a fortune from the game taking his talents around the world to the detriment of England. But Flintoff is not buying that view.
‘Look at him playing for our country. Do you think he looks like a man chasing the money or a man who is happiest out there in his England kit?
‘I’m sure with the money they pay him, he’s got a lovely house and a nice new car but he wants to perform for his team-mates, for England.
‘I learnt the hard way. I started earning a few quid when I was about 20. You get all the trappings. But if the cricket isn’t right, the money soon goes. With him, you can see he is focused — and the money will come to him. Playing well for England, being a match- winner, winning the Ashes. The rest, the IPL, the Big Bash, they will come.
‘And who remembers who wins the IPL? You remember who wins the Ashes.’
The man who was an all-action all-rounder for England, but lost an Ashes series as captain 5-0, has one piece of advice for Stokes.
‘Stay as vice-captain. Stay there. He might have aspirations to be England captain but don’t do it!
‘I can’t speak for him, but if I am relating it to my career, I found it one job too many. I found it so hard. Bowling, batting, captain. You had to go back to your room and switch off but I couldn’t. It was draining. I didn’t know when to bowl myself. I ended up, “I’ll bowl” or if something needed doing, “I’ll do it”.
‘For him to play in the way in which he does, he doesn’t need that.
‘But who knows? He keeps on amazing us. He could take over after Joe Root’s had enough and be the best England captain ever. And I hope he does. All I am saying about that is, “Be careful”.
‘I want him to enjoy his cricket, as he is now.’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cr...w-Flintoff-insists-Ben-Stokes-better-was.html
Set his sights where? ‘Don’t call him an all-rounder, for a start. He’s better than that! I always thought being an all-rounder suggested you can do a bit of everything but you’re not a master of any of it. Ben Stokes can bat. He’s a batter.
‘We look for this mythical all-rounder in our country, a player who is Superman. And then when he’s not, we like to pick faults.
‘Stokes is more than that. He could bat at three for England. He could be the best pick at No 3 for any country in the world.
‘He can be another Joe Root. He’s a proper batsman. You see his technique, shot selection, aggression.
‘Oh, he can bowl too. We’ve seen that. Ask the South Africans. Trust me, he’s better than me, better than Ian Botham too. Beefy was a hero of mine, but Stokes is a better cricketer. Better than all of us.’
They’ve only met a handful of times, they are not agency stablemates or friends, so this joy in Stokes’s growing status is genuine. Flintoff’s kids ‘love watching Stokes play’ and he was at The Oval where Stokes was man of the match for his all-round display to help England to a 2-1 series lead. He will go to Old Trafford for the final Test starting on Friday too.
This debate, comparing Flintoff with Stokes, came about because Stuart Broad was dazzled by a spell of hostile fast bowling from the Durham man. ‘Ben had the wind behind him and his bouncer that hurt Dean Elgar really fired him up,’ said Broad. ‘I was fielding at mid-on and it felt quick. It felt like one of those intimidating spells Andrew Flintoff used to bowl, heavy and at the batsman. He dragged the team with him.’
Flintoff accepts the compliment with a smile. These days he is doing a lot of smiling.
He’s lost weight, looks well, is taking acting and singing lessons and is soon to appear in the musical of Fat Friends. But before that, he is happy to eulogise about Stokes and this present England team, of whom he says: ‘It’s not about if they will win The Ashes, but by how much?’
He continues: ‘People won’t agree with this — because we like to talk down our teams — but this can be the best England team of all time.
‘Think about it. We’ve got the best batsman ever, Alastair Cook, England’s best bowler in Jimmy Anderson, the captain, Root, who can be whatever he wants to be, Stuart Broad’s figures are excellent. Jonny Bairstow at seven. Stop talking about why he should bat up the order. Moeen Ali batting at No 8. And Ben Stokes!
‘England will win the Ashes this winter. I just want them to stop concentrating on what they can’t do and think about what they can.’
Stokes is one of the players who has helped Flintoff fall back in love with the game. ‘You look at the games Ben Stokes is playing. When I was playing, there were a few teams that weren’t up to much. Sri Lanka were average. India were average, New Zealand (screws up face) . . . now every team can beat everyone else. You don’t get five or six wickets and go through a team. As a bowler it’s harder.
‘As a batsman, it’s not just about facing raw pace. The bowlers you face are more skilful. So Ben is emerging at a time when it’s a lot harder. I’m glad we are sitting here excited about him. So we should be.
‘I saw him at Old Trafford a few years back and Steve Harmison said, “This lad is going to be the next thing, even better than we’ve seen”. For some people it takes longer to adapt to international cricket and Ben has a little bit. And now . . . his bowling is getting better. I was better at the end of my career than I was when I was young because you start to figure it out.
‘I never bowled as quick or as well as when I was 31. He’s getting better all the time. We were there at The Oval last week. We saw it. When he played in the Big Bash a couple of years ago, they didn’t even bowl him. Now? He’s your go-to guy.’
Unsurprisingly, Flintoff, a swashbuckling star of his time, insists we have to accept Stokes warts and all.
‘He’ll get a ban some time. Of course he will. He’s two demerit points away, isn’t he? It’s going to happen. But you can’t have all that fire, match-winning performances with the bat and the ball and ask him to change.
‘The game has changed. I got called in once by Clive Lloyd and he said, “Don’t do that again”. I said, “OK, I won’t . . . ” That was it. Now Kagiso Rabada gets a one-game ban for totting up points for indiscipline. That’s harsh. It will happen to Ben too.
‘He’s a better cricketer in a battle. On the big stage. He loves it. Don’t change him. Accept him. Enjoy every game he plays.
‘He’ll get injuries. I hope he doesn’t but I fear it’s inevitable the way he plays. You watch him on the field, diving about into advertising hoardings, chasing every ball down. He will get injured but he’s going to have an exciting career.’
It means Stokes is hot property. He cost £1.4m in the last Indian Premier League auction and there is a risk he could earn a fortune from the game taking his talents around the world to the detriment of England. But Flintoff is not buying that view.
‘Look at him playing for our country. Do you think he looks like a man chasing the money or a man who is happiest out there in his England kit?
‘I’m sure with the money they pay him, he’s got a lovely house and a nice new car but he wants to perform for his team-mates, for England.
‘I learnt the hard way. I started earning a few quid when I was about 20. You get all the trappings. But if the cricket isn’t right, the money soon goes. With him, you can see he is focused — and the money will come to him. Playing well for England, being a match- winner, winning the Ashes. The rest, the IPL, the Big Bash, they will come.
‘And who remembers who wins the IPL? You remember who wins the Ashes.’
The man who was an all-action all-rounder for England, but lost an Ashes series as captain 5-0, has one piece of advice for Stokes.
‘Stay as vice-captain. Stay there. He might have aspirations to be England captain but don’t do it!
‘I can’t speak for him, but if I am relating it to my career, I found it one job too many. I found it so hard. Bowling, batting, captain. You had to go back to your room and switch off but I couldn’t. It was draining. I didn’t know when to bowl myself. I ended up, “I’ll bowl” or if something needed doing, “I’ll do it”.
‘For him to play in the way in which he does, he doesn’t need that.
‘But who knows? He keeps on amazing us. He could take over after Joe Root’s had enough and be the best England captain ever. And I hope he does. All I am saying about that is, “Be careful”.
‘I want him to enjoy his cricket, as he is now.’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cr...w-Flintoff-insists-Ben-Stokes-better-was.html
