...But there was also a compassionate side to Flintoff, who retired yesterday
...But there was also a compassionate side to Flintoff, who retired yesterday
Head back, arms outstretched, staring to the heavens as all around roared their congratulation after another stupendous feat.
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We should remember his match-winning contributions to the greatest Ashes series of them all in 2005 when cricket became sexy, to such an extent that it was heralded in some quarters as "the new football", with the defining picture capturing Flintoff on his haunches with his arm around Australian Brett Lee at Edgbaston, comforting the opposition at the moment of defeat.
That was Flintoff the magnanimous, the compassionate.The man who worked hard and played even harder, who put body and soul into his quest for victory but who never lost his sense of fair play.
The truth, however, is that the real 'Freddie Flintoff,' as he was inevitably nicknamed, was much more complex.
Which is why others will remember Flintoff lurching and slurring his way around London in the overzealous celebrations which characterised the victory parade in 2005.
Or being stripped of the vice-captaincy following the infamous late-night pedalo incident at the World Cup in the West Indies in 2007.
Brilliant, yet sometimes irresponsible. Flintoff swung between the two like no British sportsman since Paul Gascoigne.
It is why, when history trains its microscope on his career, he will be judged harshly as a man who, through nagging injuries and self-destruction, never quite fulfilled his huge potential.There was as much myth as magic. Too many dark moments. too much wasted talent.
His fans might call that harsh because there is no doubt loveable 'Freddie' was England's talisman for more than a decade. His presence lifted spirits and instilled fear in opponents.
None more so than in the second Ashes Test in 2005 when he struck nine sixes in scoring 141 over both innings and also took seven wickets.
Flintoff does not compare favourably with the legendary all-rounders. Not in the same consistent class as men such as Garfield Sobers of the West Indies, South Africa's Mike Proctor and New Zealand's Richard Hadlee.
Not in the same league as Sir Ian Botham, the man he had the misfortune always to be compared with.
Yet when it came to their scintillating effect on a cricket ground there was barely a cigarette paper between them.
The moment Botham strode from the pavilion, batting arm twirling like a windmill, the bars emptied. Anticipation filled the air. Much the same as when Flintoff moved in to pick up the ball and launch that once-in-a-career 'miracle' throw at the Oval to run out Ponting last year.
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Sadly, that turned out to be the final flourish in a career which was never short on colour and charisma.
Forget the flaws, that is how Flintoff should be remembered.
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