Forget 'Fredalo', this is serious

Forget Fredalo, this is Serious!

Duncan Fletcher’s recent revelations about star all-rounder Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff’s drinking habits during the disastrous campaign to retain the Ashes in Australia last year have been met with mixed response. Some have rushed to the Lancastrians’s defence; Fletcher is making excuses for a poor series,he's trying to boost the sale of his newly released book, they say. Paul Nixon, England’s wicket-keeper during the 2007 World Cup has come out in defence of Flintoff, emphatically stating that he does not have a drink problem. One thing is for sure, Fletcher is in a better position to make the judgement having guided Flintoff through most of his International career, while Nixon was chirpy behind the stumps and inventive with the bat for only a handful of OdI’s. The accusations that he was too drunk to practice on occasions are damning, probably true and far more significant than the fuss that esculated over the 'pedalo' incident during the England's ill-fated World Cup campaign.
Flintoff is a sportsman, and as such is a role-model. Not necessarily for everyone, but at the very least for those aspiring to make their way in the game. Fletcher’s suggestion that the England captain was too drunk to catch, let alone bat or bowl, during a pre-match practice is as much shocking as it is disappointing. After all this is a man lauded as a hero following his heroics during the Ashes of 2005, appointed England captain for the Ashes tour on the back of his cavalier spirit and his embodiment of the pride and passion which is so key to defeating the Australians. Fletcher is spot on in suggesting that Flintoff let him down, more importantly perhaps Flintoff let himself down. Now, more than ever, comparisons can naturally be drawn with Sir Ian Botham. It was, ironically, ‘Beefy’ Botham, a notorious maverick in his playing days, who was reportedly Flintoff's drinking partner in many a ‘knight to remember’.
Perhaps I am too quick to judge. Indeed Flintoff was lauded, even praised for his drunken antics aboard the open-bus celebrations of England’s Ashes triumph. It is not, seemingly, acceptable to drink in the same proportions in the aftermath of defeat. Moreover it is not that it is unacceptable; it is unprofessional, it does not set the right example and it should not be tolerated. Fletcher could have and should have dealt with the incident at the time; publicly or privately Flintoff, like any other member of the squad who steps out of line, had to be disciplined. Fletcher’s comments, recently published in a national newspaper have clearly been made in the wrong place, at the wrong time. As for Flintoff, in cricketing terms his career is on the decline, hampered by a run of injuries, he has failed to reproduce the kind of performances which warmed the nation’s heart in 2005. He is a bowler of epic proportions; he is genuinely quick, possesses a frightening bouncer and a crushing yorker, and crucially as many an Australian left hander found out, he has the ability to swing the cricket ball. His batting is at best ferocious and at its worst, timid and without purpose, although more often than not in recent times it falls into the latter category. He is without doubt, England’s most valuable asset; surely we should be trying to nurture him and look after him, rather than publicly humiliate him. It disappoints me as much as anyone else to hear of Flintoff’s late night boozing, but it would be even more disappointing not to see him in an England shirt again, terrorising batsmen and bowlers the world over.