Flintoff follows Vaughan

Andrew Flintoff is confident about repeating Michael Vaughan’s feat to beat Australia in the Ashes.

He was modest about his previous exploits though, saying of his captaincy in India: “To be honest, I didn’t have a great deal to do as captain, I moved a fielder from here to there every so often, gave a team talk and that’s about it.”

He has had fairly mixed fortunes as England captain so far, drawing series against India and Sri Lanka. His performances in India led the team to a historic victory in Mumbai, and silenced many doubters of his ability to lead the side effectively and maintain his own good performance.

Arguments over whether he should lead the side or not mean little to the big Lancastrian, who is confident in his own leadership skills, as he writes in his new book: “My family were obviously delighted about the captaincy, but everyone else seemed very concerned about the effect it might have on my game, As an all-rounder I’m in the game all the time anyway with my batting and bowling and standing at slip so I couldn’t see how captaincy could be that much more of a burden. I was hoping it might bring out the best in me.”

Opposers to Flintoff’s leadership may use Ian Botham’s woeful captaincy record to suggest someone else to lead the side, but there have been many world-class all rounder captains in the past, Imran Khan, Richie Benaud and Tony Greig to name but a few.

One thing is certain, Flintoff will need to be at his very best with bat, ball and as captain, for England to keep hold o the urn.