When he dismissed Phillip Hughes in Cardiff, Andrew Flintoff greeted the raised umpire’s finger with a classic demonstration: shoulders back, chest out, arms aloft, muscles tensed—a proclamation of English purpose, like the prow of a man-o’-war. It was a pose familiar to anyone with remembrance of 2005, or who has been watching the endless re-runs of that series on Sky in the last two weeks.
It looked also like an attempt to rediscover the bygone magic that had made him the best all-round cricketer of his time, to rise above the increasing frailties of his anatomy that have ruled him out of twenty-five of England’s last forty-eight Tests. It was in vain. Threatening at first, he was slower with each passing spell, picked off on a pitch that did his bang-it-in methods no favours. Twice he loomed with a bat, only to fall tamely. Seeing what looked very much like an end, he today embraced it, announcing at Lord’s that this Test series would be his last, although he intends playing on in shorter forms of the game.
In truth, the continuation of his career has sometimes seemed a source of wonder. He is a big, heavy man who runs a long way and bowls a power of overs. The injuries he has forborne have seldom been breakdowns. Rather, they have been the result of long-term wear and tear: side strains, stress fractures, hernias, an ankle that needed four rebuildings. The last injury hurt most of all: a tear in the meniscus of the right knee sustained during Flintoff’s third match in the IPL, where his total of 93 runs at 31 and two wickets at 54 cost the Chennai Super Kings US$1.5 million.
As expensive as this foray was for India Cements Ltd, proprietors of the Chennai Super Kings, it was more expensive for Flintoff. Keyhole surgery and an enforced lay-off were required. He began the Ashes of 2009 in form only at the bar, missing the bus on the team’s ‘bonding’ trip to Flanders after a night of drinking for his country—an incident tactfully whitewashed by all concerned. The ECB turned a Nelsonian blind eye to their star all-rounder’s behaviour, and, for all their seamy reputation, English red-tops are protective of their heroes.
Officially the knee injury was aggravated in the field at Sophia Gardens, but nobody really doubts that the swelling resulted from pounding in for thirty-five overs on an unsympathetic surface. So while it’s an exaggeration to say that England squandered its Ashes chance at Kingsmead on 23 April, the attitudes of rival countries to the IPL are an instructive contrast. Where key Australians declined their invitations to the Trimalchio’s dinner party of modern cricket, forgoing fat pay cheques in favour of being fresh when it mattered, both Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen took the cash, earning monies embarrassingly out of proportion with their performances.
Flintoff’s Ashes record is a patchy one. He didn’t make it onto the field in 2002–03, being invalided home with a hernia. He failed at Lord’s four years ago, commenting ruefully after he had been bowled without scoring: ‘I waited six years for that?’ In 2006–07 he was a confused and confusing captain, undermining his coach Duncan Fletcher with constant drinking. Between times, for the last four Tests of that epoch-making 2005 series, he backed his ability and rode his luck like no Australian opponent in recent history, save perhaps Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar. Australian batsmen returned home regarding him the best fast bowler in the world. He was a gifted hitter rather than a Test-class batsman, as Ian Botham became, but his 102 four years ago at Trent Bridge showed a true Test-match temperament.
It’s unknown still if Flintoff will play tomorrow. Officially he has passed his fitness test, but he will need careful handling if he is to survive the rest of the series as he intends. He walked across Lord’s after training this morning, kit on back, bat in hand, stopped at the pitch under preparation to play a few shadow strokes at each end, and to survey the empty stands. Although the gesture at Cardiff was of the kind he will be remembered for, this sight at Lord’s felt more in keeping with present realities.