Flintoff: Patience paid off

Jul 15 2008 by Our Correspondent, Liverpool Daily Post

ANDREW FLINTOFF identified disciplined bowling and attacking batting on a placid wicket as the twin keys to Lancashire’s six-wicket victory over Hampshire at the Rose Bowl yesterday, and the recalled England all-rounder also said that he is “far more happy” with his own strokeplay than he was a month ago.

The Lancashire all-rounder was speaking after his alarmingly violent 23-ball innings of 39 not out had helped the Old Trafford side score 131 runs in 25.1 overs to secure their comfortable win over Nic Pothas’s team, a result which keeps Stuart Law’s men among the sides at the top of the Division One table going into the second half of the 16-match County programme.

“We played some good cricket and we’re on a bit of a roll,” said Flintoff who also performed well in Lancashire’s eight-wicket win over Sussex 12 days ago and has now been named in the England side to play South Africa at Headingley on Friday.

“We’ve played on two very placid wickets,” he added. “It was a real grind for us and we’ve had to play patient cricket and work hard. In the bowling unit we’ve been disciplined and that’s been led by Glen Chapple who’s getting better and better. My own bowling’s fine. I think I have a bit more craft than I had a few years ago and I feel I’m improving.”

Patience and craft may indeed have been the watchwords for Stuart Law’s bowlers on Friday and Sunday but there was little sign of those qualities in Flintoff’s volcanic innings yesterday. Coming to the wicket with his side on 88 for three and having scored just 93 runs in seven first class innings this season, the 30-year-old miscued a two over the cover field early on, but then hit three mighty sixes and a trio of crisp fours as he added 73 in eight overs with skipper Stuart Law, who contributed 36 off 43 balls.

“I can bat a bit,” said Flintoff. “On that pitch I thought the best strategy was to attack. See the ball and hit it: that’s the philosophy that’s stood me in good stead a few years ago and it’s the one I’m going back to now. Today, we’d thought we’d just get on with it and try to get home as quick as we could. I’m not sure how assured any of my innings have been this year but it seems to be getting there.”

Lancashire’s cricket has also been getting there in the past fortnight. Defeat to Middlesex in the Twenty20 quarter-final was an undoubted blow, but hard-won victories at Hove and Southampton have revealed the mettle of a team which, especially in the bowling department, is looking increasingly impressive.

“I’m just prepared to play for Lancashire,” said Flintoff, who opted not to talk about England. “As a team we’re improving and the Championship credentials are definitely there. We’re playing as a team, as a unit, and I think that’s showing through.”

Despite Dimitri Mascarenhas taking the wickets of both Paul Horton and Lou Vincent in the first 10 overs yesterday, Hampshire’s bowlers never really threatened to embarrass the visitors, and the home team’s batting collapse on Sunday afternoon exposed the brittleness of a line-up which seems distinctly lacking in the backbone and self-belief needed for four days of first-class cricket.

By contrast, while Lancashire’s batsmen may still be nowhere near their best, their bowlers are ready to seize on any trace of weakness in the opposition. Whether those qualities will still be in evidence to the same degree if Flintoff is absent for the second half of the Championship season will be one of the key tests.