The Ashes Legends: Andrew Flintoff - The people's champion

Andrew Flintoff

“The eyes behind the glasses tell a thousand stories”, a bleary-eyed, stuttering Andrew Flintoff reasoned with an amused David Gower amidst raucous cheering from thousands of English supporters.

It is unusual for the football-crazy nation to come out in numbers and celebrate a victory of its cricket team in a bilateral Test series at the Trafalgar square. Certainly it is unusual for the uptight English fans to cheer on a drunken man who (as the legend goes) didn’t think twice before relieving himself in the rose bushes at 10 Downing Street.

But then it’s not everyday that the course of history is altered by the efforts of a single man. And that man was, after all, the people’s champion who played for the galleries, a showman who made the British fans lose their stiff upper lip and roar every time he stepped on the field.

For those who judge by numbers, Flintoff will always be an underachiever. A couple of decades later he might even be known as a television superstar who once played cricket for a living.

But then, how can one quantify the contributions of a man who, almost single-handedly, over one glorious summer, breathed life into the oldest rivalry in cricket which, for over a decade and a half looked increasingly embarrassing for the nation where the game originated?

For those who saw the burly all-rounder give his all on the field during the 2005 Ashes series, he was the nearest thing to the Ian Botham of 1981.

When he had a bat in hand, he was bludgeoning, using his naturally aggressive approach to combat the famed Australian attack.

When he got the ball he didn’t want it to be taken away, exploiting reverse swing to the hilt to trouble the star-studded Aussie lineup.

First the context. Before the 2005 series, England had last claimed the urn in 1987. For eight consecutive Ashes series in 18 years, the Englishmen had just made up the numbers in the rivalry.

The Australians were at their zenith during that period and produced champion cricketers at will, who dutifully turned up for the biennial Pommie-thrashing event. A whole generation had grown up wondering if England would ever be able to regain the Ashes.

This time though England had assembled a good squad and there was hope for an evenly contested Ashes. In Michael Vaughan they had a calm and able leader. In Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Strauss they had two aggressive openers. In Kevin Pietersen they had a rare flamboyant English batsman. In Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard they had two skilled new ball bowlers. And they had Flintoff.

The start of the series lived up to its hype as Harmison delivered the opening punches but Australia, staying true to their world champion tag, fought back to go one up in the series. The English hopes, like in the eight previous Ashes series, began to fade and it seemed the usual Australia-beat-England routine would ensue.

Flintoff didn’t have a great start to the Ashes

Flintoff’s own performance was dismal as he picked up four wickets wickets at a very expensive rate and managed just three runs in two innings. Then Edgbaston happened.

Considered one of the greatest Tests of all time, it produced drama of the highest order and after several twists and turns it reached its conclusion amidst barely manageable tension. And yes, it was here that Flintoff gained cult status.

England, inserted in after losing the toss, got off to a good start and Flintoff cashed in with a quickfire 62-ball-68, which contained six boundaries and five sixes, to take the total past 400. The big all-rounder then did his bit with the ball as well, polishing off the Aussie tail to end up with three wickets and help England secure a decent lead of 99.

Australia fought back courtesy Shane Warne (who else) and got the game back in balance. But Freddie, who came in at 74/5 in the second essay, continued his blistering form with the bat to bring up his second half-century of the match. While wickets tumbled at the other end Flintoff remained unperturbed in his counter-attack as he combined with Simon Jones to raise a last wicket stand of 51 in just six overs.

When he was finally dismissed, Flintoff had smashed 9 sixes across both innings, breaking Ian Botham’s record for maximum sixes in a match for England.

Chasing 282 for victory, Australia got off to a good start but it all changed when Vaughan, in an inspired change, threw the ball to his tireless all-rounder. In what was arguably the over of the summer, Flintoff made immediate impact, sneaking through the defence of Justin Langer.

“Freddie” was massive in that over

With the crowd firmly behind him now, he made the skipper Ricky Ponting dance to his tunes by making the ball move both ways before getting him to nick the final delivery of the over to wicket-keeper Geraint Jones. As he got engulfed by his teammates, Flintoff stood mid-pitch with widespread arms, soaking in the electric atmosphere. The theatricality was at its very best.

England completed a thrilling 2-run victory on the following morning but during the mad celebrations what stood out was the humane side of Flintoff. As the ground erupted in its entirety at the fall of the last wicket, the all-rounder, in a show of respect for the opposition, consoled the non-striker Brett Lee before joining his ecstatic teammates, to produce the most enduring image of the series.

After the highs of Edgbaston, one felt it just couldn’t get any better. But it didn’t get worse either. The following Tests at Old Trafford, Trent Bridge and The Oval produced many heart-stopping moments as Freddie went from strength to strength and took the center-stage with England scripting one of the greatest turnarounds in Test cricket.

Flintoff consoles Lee – An enduring snap of the series

After his gallant efforts with the ball to secure another win were thwarted by a superb Ponting century at Old Trafford, Flintoff came up with a hundred of his own to set up the platform for another tense win at Trent Bridge.

In the decider at The Oval he once again stamped his authority, with the ball this time, to pick up a five-wicket haul and trigger an Aussie collapse. England managed to eke out a draw and secure a 2-1 series win, their first Ashes win in 18 years.

With 402 runs at an average of 40 and 24 wickets at 27.29 apiece against the mighty Aussies, Flintoff had cemented a spot for himself in the Ashes pantheon. The man who had promised so much finally delivered, and along with awards and honours, he was hailed as the next Ian Botham.

However, after his man of series efforts in 2005, he failed to reach the dizzying heights again and fell short of the greatness he seemed destined for.

Incidentally, it was the next Ashes series in Australia which proved to be his lowest point.

Owing to Vaughan’s troublesome knee, Flintoff was handed the captaincy reins and with a rare Test win in India, he got off to a good start. But against a hurt Australian unit looking for vengeance, his side looked way out of depth and capitulated to a 5-0 whitewash, the first Ashes whitewash since 1921.

His own performance too left a lot to be desired as he scored just 254 runs at a partly average of 28.22 and managed only 11 wickets in the five Tests. The talisman of 2005 looked helpless and burdened in Australia.

As the captain, Flintoff struggled to conjure that brilliance in 2006-07 Ashes

Heavy workload and subsequent injuries conspired to push his career to a premature end. His cause also wasn’t helped by the several off-field transgressions – the ill advised pedalo episode during the World Cup in the West Indies for example – which made him a figure attracting jeers and ridicule.

When Australia returned to the English shores in 2009, there were doubts if Flintoff’s body would last the rigours of a five-Test series. His loyalty to his team was also questioned as, notwithstanding his fragile frame, he signed on the dotted lines to represent the Chennai Super Kings in the lucrative IPL for a whopping US$1.55 Million.

As expected, his right knee gave away during the the IPL and though he managed to recover in time for the first Ashes Test in Cardiff, he announced that he would retire from the longer version of the game after the series.

Safe in the knowledge that his body wouldn’t be undergoing the strain anymore, Flintoff rolled back the years and bowled an inspired spell, virtually on one leg, to shut the door on Australia with his third five-wicket haul to help his side record their first Ashes win at Lord’s since 1934.

On his final day as a Test cricketer at the Oval, he conjured another moment of magic with a direct hit from mid-on to catch Ponting short of his crease and almost seal the Aussies’ fate.

Finishing his Ashes journey with the urn – Flintoff will remain a quintessential Ashes legend

Being the enigma that he is, even three years after his retirement it is not clear how Flintoff’s legacy will pan out. While at his pomp he would have given The Beatles a close run in the popularity charts, at his lowest ebb he has been subjected to taunts, mocks and even abuses.

But what is certain is that in the Ashes folklore, he will be remembered as the figure who revived the battle for the urn and even had the Aussie captain wishing they had a Flintoff of their own.