There’s an interesting article in the Daily Mail today by Paul Hayward suggesting that giving the captaincy to Andrew Flintoff for the Ashes campaign might be overloading him. You can read the article in full here but I have to take issue with one of the points Hayward brings up which is that he thinks the selectors gave Freddie the job for fear that he might sulk if he didn’t get it.

Athers suggested something similar in yesterdays news conference with David Graveney. I can’t for one second imagine that Flintoff would go off in an Ashley Cole style huff just because he didn’t get the captaincy. Sure he’d been promised the role earlier this summer if he got himself fit but he would have been impressed by the way in which Straussey led the team in his absence and I’m sure he would have gone along with the selectors if they said they wanted to stick with a winning formula.

Anyone who has seen Flintoff play for England will know that he plays his heart out for his country. I can’t see that not being given the captaincy would have changed that in Australia. I agree with Hayward to a point in as much as it’s an awful lot for one man to carry - main strike bowler, influential batsman and captain - but if anyone can do it, Flintoff can.

Tags : Andrew Flintoff, The Ashes, Cricket, England, Australia, Andrew Strauss, Daily Mail,