Freddie’s loss is hitting home
WHILE Andrew Flintoff was signing off his Lord’s Test career in style, the stark reality of his imminent retirement began to hit home.
Freddie showed yesterday why he remains England’s most potent weapon with the ball and he will be a huge loss to England once this Ashes series comes to an end.
Despite giving it a damn good try, Australia were never going to reach their 522 target, especially when a refreshed Freddie strode purposefully towards his captain at the start of the morning’s play to take the nearly-new ball on a good Lord’s pitch.
Not for the first time, Freddie’s sheer presence inspired England to new levels, not least by a furious opening spell which set the tone for the session and tipped the balance in England’s favour. As he did at the start of Australia’s second innings 24 hours previous, Freddie delivered a blistering spell of consistent and aggressive fast bowling which proved too hot to handle for a sustained period of time.
WORK THEIR MAGIC
Make no mistake about it, this was a terrific victory for England – not only because they ended a 75-year Ashes drought at Lord’s, but also for the way they upped their game after a below-par performance in Cardiff.
But unfortunately for England this intensity has finally taken its toll on Flintoff, hence his decision to hang up his whites at the end of the series.
But I fear the situation may be worse that that.
After a 27-over stint with the ball, including 11 yesterday, Freddie’s troubled knee will be feeling pretty sore this morning and I fear he may not be able to recover in time for the third Test at Edgbaston in nine days’ time.
In fact, England’s medics now have a crucial part to play in England’s preparations for the third Test with he and England’s other talismanic figure, Kevin Pietersen, both struggling for fitness. England will be praying the medics can work their magic to keep them to full-strength on an Edgbaston pitch, which produces a result in Tests more often than not.