Andrew Flintoff told Adil Rashid he “epitomises everything that England cricket is about” after presenting the leg-spinner with a cap to mark his 100th T20 international match.
Flintoff is continuing his ad hoc role as a team mentor for England in their five T20s against the West Indies and, ahead of the series opener, he spoke glowingly of Rashid before his landmark appearance.
In the team huddle before England’s four-wicket loss in Barbados, Flintoff recalled his first memories of a then 20-year-old Rashid when they were at opposite ends of their playing careers in late 2008.
Rashid, now 35, has since gone on to establish himself as one of the finest white-ball bowlers of his era, helping England win both ODI and T20 World Cup trophies.
But Flintoff also shone a light on the work Rashid does away from the field, including mentoring the next generation at his academy in Yorkshire and the advice he doles out to spinners of all ages.
“I remember you coming into the side as this young lad, full of mystery, full of wonder, full of mischief and loads and loads of ability,” Flintoff said in a video released by www.ecb.co.uk.
“Over the years, everyone in this group: myself and anybody who’s played with you has been so proud at how you’ve gone about your business – a multiple World Cup winner, the best in the business at what you do around the world but more importantly, Rash, you as a person.
“You’re such an integral part of this squad and the other thing is you give back, whether it’s in Bradford with your academies (or) the other day I saw you spending all this time with a leg-spinner, a young kid, and just coaching him. To me that is just as important as everything else you do.
“To me, you epitomise everything that England cricket is about. It’s a privilege for me to tour with you, it’s a privilege for me to give you this cap.
“So Rash, come and get this cap, (it is) 100 but you’ve not stopped yet, there’s plenty more in you. Well done, son.”
During the English summer, Flintoff presented Tom Hartley with his maiden England cap, telling his fellow Lancastrian: “This will change your life forever.”
The ex-England captain also touched upon “the hardest time” of his life in his message to Hartley after a crash on the BBC show Top Gear in December last year that left him with facial and rib injuries.
Babar's captain's innings leads Pakistan to victory as series drawn with New Zealand
Babar Azam top scored as he led his Pakistan team to a nine-run victory over New Zealand in Lahore that saw the five-game T20I series end in a draw.
Babar hit 69 runs off 44 balls before being bowled by Ben Sears, smashing six fours and two sixes to take his team to 123/3 at the time of his dismissal.
Fakhar Zaman (43 from 33) and Usman Khan (31 off 24) also chipped in with important innings as Pakistan ended on 178/5.
With a target of 179 to secure a 3-1 series victory, New Zealand's run chase faltered almost immediately as opener Tom Blundell was removed within the first over with his team having managed just five runs on the board.
Blundell's fellow opener Tim Seifert steadied the ship with a vital 52-run innings off 33 deliveries before being bowled by Usama Mir, but Shaheen Shah Afridi led the way for Pakistan, finishing with figures of 4-30 to stem the New Zealand run chase
Josh Clarkson's 38 off 26 set up a nervy conclusion, but Pakistan held on to avoid defeat in the T20 series as the teams share the spoils at two wins apiece after the first game was abandoned.
Bayern star Kane scores 400th senior goal
Harry Kane surpassed the 400-goal mark for his senior career as his double helped Bayern Munich beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 at the Allianz Arena on Saturday.
Kane moved within one of the milestone as he put Bayern 1-0 up after just nine minutes, coolly finishing from close range after Konrad Laimer's pass had set him up.
Then, after Frankfurt levelled through Hugo Ekitike, Kane slotted home a penalty with typical aplomb following a foul on Thomas Muller to move himself onto 400 career goals and ultimately lead Bayern to victory.
Kane scored 280 of his goals in 435 appearances for Tottenham, overtaking Jimmy Greaves to become the club's all-time leading scorer when he netted for the 267th time in Spurs colours against Manchester City last February.
His tally of 213 Premier League goals, meanwhile, puts him just 47 behind the competition's all-time leader Alan Shearer, who scored 260 times for Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United.
Kane is also the most prolific player in England's history, his 62 goals for the Three Lions coming in 89 international appearances.
He memorably missed the chance to surpass Wayne Rooney's previous record of 53 when he blazed a penalty over the crossbar in the Three Lions' quarter-final defeat to France at the 2022 World Cup, only to clinch his place in history in a Euro 2024 qualifier against Italy three months later.
The very first goal of Kane's senior career came in League One during a loan spell with Leyton Orient as they thrashed Sheffield Wednesday 4-0 in January 2011.
That was the first of five goals Kane scored in O's colours, while he also netted nine times in a loan spell with Millwall in 2011-12 and twice during a stint with Leicester City the following season.
IPL: Fraser-McGurk leads the way as Capitals hold off Mumbai
Delhi Capitals withstood Mumbai Indian’s late surge and held on for a 10-run victory at Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Jake Fraser-McGurk top-scored with 84 – hitting 50 off just 15 balls – while Tristan Stubbs (48) and Shai Hope (41) also chipped in with important contributions as the Capitals set a target of 258.
Mukesh Kumar (3/59) and Rasikh Salam (3/34) did their best to halt Mumbai’s revival, but they turned up the pressure to require 25 runs from the final over.
However, despite Luke Wood and Piyush Chawla’s best efforts, Delhi held out for a second successive win.
Data debrief
Wood almost made amends after conceding 68 runs during the opening innings – the joint-most in the IPL this season, matching Reece Topley’s tally against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Tilak Varma led Mumbai’s attempted revival with 63 for his sixth half-century in the IPL, though they have all come in defeats
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