London, July 22: Australia need to find a way to cope with England’s in-form fast bowler Andrew Flintoff in the three remaining Ashes Tests if they are to find a way back into the series they now trail 1-0.
Man of the Match Flintoff, 31, who will retire from Tests after the Ashes, defied his aches and pains to bowl 10 consecutive overs before lunch on Monday and lead England to a 115-run win in the second Test at Lord’s.
He finished with figures of 5-92. “If you ask all our batters who faced him in this game they’ll say he’s right up there with the best quicks in the world when he’s bowling well,” Australia captain Ricky Ponting told reporters.
“He gives his all. His spells have not got shorter through the game, and this morning his pace did not drop off at all. That’s what we’ve come to expect from him. He’s always been a great competitor and England certainly rely on him standing up and doing the job and he did that well for them in this game.”
It’s not just Flintoff’s pace that batsmen find intimidating. The shorter lengths he bowls mean he frequently darts the ball at the body, something Australia will next experience in the third Test at Edgbaston on July 30.
He bowled consistently above 90 mph through the match and even managed to hit Michael Clarke on the glove as the Australia batsman shielded his face from a bouncing short ball when on 126. Earlier in his innings, Clarke was also struck on the helmet by Flintoff.
“When Andrew’s bowling that well and for that period of time he’s as good as anybody I’ve faced in my Test career,” Clarke said. “It’s a challenge as a batsman. If you get through that, you know you’ve faced a good spell of fast bowling.
“It’s going to be a challenge for the next three Tests. We’re probably going to have to face him bowling exactly the same in the next three Test matches. I hope we’ve got used to it,” he added.
Flintoff told Andrew Strauss after the first wicket on Monday morning that he would keep bowling until all the Australian wickets were taken.
Flintoff now has 225 wickets in his 77-Test career and is tenth in the list of top England wicket-takers. He could climb to seventh on that list with another 12 victims, which would take him past former team mates Darren Gough, Andrew Caddick and then Alec Bedser (236).
“If you had to list the top three bowlers in the world who batsmen don’t like facing, Freddie (Flintoff) is going to be in there and would probably be at the top,” Strauss told reporters.
“He hasn’t always got the wickets he’s deserved but I’m pleased he did here (Lord’s). His hostility is unpleasant, it’s unpleasant facing him in the nets and it’s unpleasant in the middle.”
Flintoff said making the Lord’s honourboard for taking five wickets there in a Test innings was “very special” in his final Test appearance at the ground.
He admitted he experienced “twinges and aches” during the match but remained confident he would be fit enough to play in the remaining matches at Edgbaston, Headingley and The Oval.
Winning Test matches and especially Ashes contests were the moments that motivated him most during his many days in rehab from injury, Flintoff said. He has undergone four ankle operations since 2005 and has spent about two of the last four years recovering from surgery. “It’s not my intention to bow out at Lord’s,” Flintoff said.
“I want to be on the podium with the Ashes at The Oval.”
–Agencies