England assistant Marcus Trescothick has enjoyed witnessing Andrew Flintoff “grow back into Freddie” during his Ashes-winning team-mate’s stint with the national team.
Flintoff had been out of the public eye since a serious car accident while filming for Top Gear last December but earlier this month he was coaxed into joining England’s backroom staff in an unpaid capacity.
Several players have savoured being at close quarters with such a recognisable figure but Trescothick was already intimately acquainted not just with Freddie the cricketer but Flintoff the person.
While he has frequently been the butt of Flintoff’s jokes, Trescothick has watched on with admiration at the 45-year-old slowly regaining confidence and “sprinkling a bit of gold-dust around the team”.
“He hammers me more than anyone else,” said Trescothick with a smile. “I’m the first target for his banter at the moment but having him around has been superb, it really has. He’s been brilliant.
“Seeing him grow back into Freddie… obviously he’s been away from cricket for a long period of time but this is where it all starts and where it belongs for him. The guys have really taken to him.
“The couple of times he’s spoken in the changing room it’s been like ‘wow’. You can see the difference and I’ve seen the progression of him as a character, the way he talks and delivers messages to players has been superb.
“To have him sprinkling a bit of gold-dust around the team and having the younger players working with that has been invaluable. You can’t put a price on it.”
Flintoff was initially enlisted for four ODIs against New Zealand, after which the former England captain’s spell was expected to end, but he has hung around for the ongoing Metro Bank series versus Ireland.
England have selected a more inexperienced band of players for this series and there were four debutants in the second ODI on Saturday – effectively the opener after last week’s Headingley washout.
Tom Hartley had the distinction of being given his maiden cap ahead of England’s 48-run win by Flintoff, who told his fellow Lancastrian in the team huddle: “This will change your life forever.”
“You become more comfortable, don’t you,” said Trescothick, who was an England team-mate of Flintoff’s between 2000 and 2006. “This is what we know, this is what we’ve grown up with for so many years.
“Once you come to your comfortable environment, you know what goes on and you understand the place, people have respect for what he has done and enjoy seeing him improving.
“That’s really good from our point of view. If we as players and squads and cricket in general keep doing that for people who have fallen on tougher times then great, we’re doing something right.”
Trescothick and the rest of the England coaching staff will oversee the final ODI against Ireland at Bristol on Tuesday before embarking to the subcontinent for the World Cup on Wednesday evening.
England resting the squad that will travel to India for the defence of their title, starting in less than a fortnight, has offered those on the fringes a chance to push their case for more regular spots.
Teenage leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed continues to make waves in an England shirt, impressing at the weekend with four for 54, ripping the heart out of Ireland’s middle order at Trent Bridge.
“I like the way he keeps relishing opportunities and keeps doing the business,” Trescothick added. “As a younger player there’s a lot more scrutiny on him, obviously the style of cricketer he is.
“He comes into the Test team and gets five wickets (against Pakistan in Karachi last December), he comes into this format and does well. Hopefully that carries on.
“Rehan is entertaining in the changing room, enjoyable in and around it. A little bit cheeky at times which is good.
“I think you can see that coming through when he bowls. It’s part of his persona.”
Salt century gives England winning start to West Indies T20 series
Phil Salt hit a superb century as England drew first blood in their T20 series against West Indies, with a commanding eight-wicket victory at the Kensington Oval.
Salt's unbeaten 103 off 54 balls was the highlight for the tourists, who successfully chased down their target of 183 with 19 balls to spare.
The West Indies endured a difficult start and were reduced to 18-3 and later 117-8, with Saqib Mahmood (4-34) and Adil Rashid (3-32) doing the damage.
However, the hosts managed 65 runs in the last 5.2 overs to finish at 182-8, with Gukadesh Motie knocking 33 off 14 balls along the way.
Salt kick-started England's chase with 50 off just 25 deliveries taking them to 73-1 after six overs, with Will Jacks (17) dismissed with the final ball of the powerplay.
Jos Buttler's first match after four months out lasted just three minutes, as the skipper was caught by Motie for a golden duck.
However, it proved a false dawn for West Indies, with Salt and Jacob Bethall (58 from 36 balls) safely steering England to victory.
Data Debrief: Salt completes hat-trick of hundreds as Bethell makes historic half-century
England put their disappointing ODI series behind them, making history with the highest T20 chase at the Kensington Oval.
Salt was the hero with his third T20I century, all of which have come against West Indies in the past 12 months.
Bethell also made history on Saturday. Aged 21 years and 17 days, he become the youngest England player to score a 50 in a T20I.
Asalanka leads Sri Lanka to ODI series win over West Indies
Sri Lanka wrapped up the ODI series against the West Indies with a five-wicket victory in Pallekele.
The hosts successfully chased down their opponents' total of 189, giving them an unassailable 2-0 in the three-match series.
Sri Lanka controlled the early powerplay - Asitha Fernando (3-35) and Maheesh Theekshana (3-25) took two wickets apiece to leave the tourists at 31-4 in the ninth over.
Wanindu Hasaranga (4-40) then claimed three of his four wickets as Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh and Alzarri Joseph were all dismissed in the space of 14 balls.
However, Sherfane Rutherford (80 off 82 balls) and Gudakesh Motie (50 not out) steadied the ship to take the Windies from 58-8 to 189.
Although Joseph claimed Avishka Fernando (9) in the fourth over, Nishan Madushka and Sadeera Samarawickrama both chipped in with contributions of 38 to get the hosts to 112-4.
Skipper Charith Asalanka (62 not out) led the charge thereon, while Kamindu Mendis (11) comfortably got them over the line with 34 balls remaining.
Data Debrief: Rutherford-Motie historic stand proves academic for tourists
West Indies were looking to level the series, but their hopes were not aided by Sri Lanka's impressive bowling.
Rutherford and Motie did their best. Their partnership brought 119 runs, which is their nation's highest ninth-wicket stand in ODI history, breaking the previous record of 85 between Yannic Cariah and Alzarri Joseph.
However, it ultimately proved in vain as the hosts secured the series with a game to spare.
'I was a tired, grumpy old man' - Stokes apologised to England team-mates after Pakistan defeat
Ben Stokes says he apologised to his England team-mates after his frustrations were evident during the second-Test defeat by Pakistan.
The hosts levelled the three-Test series on Thursday after wrapping up a 152-run win in Multan.
However, it could have been a different story but for fielding errors at crucial stages for the visitors, Jamie Smith and Joe Root notably dropping catches to dismiss Salman Agha, whose subsequent knock of 63 helped Pakistan seal victory with a day to spare.
Stokes, who returned to action following a hamstring injury, could not hide his frustration during a difficult day for England, but insisted he would not let his emotions get the better of him again.
"No one means to drop catches, but it just proves how important catches are in these subcontinent conditions, they don't come along that often," he told Sky Sports.
"I actually apologised to the group last night. It's the first time in my captaincy that I've let my emotions and how I was feeling with the way the game was unfolding show in my body language.
"I owned up to that and was very annoyed at myself for letting that out. It's something that I don't want to do or be seen to be doing, so I apologised to the group about that.
"Poor old me, I was a tired, grumpy old man last night! You won't see that happen again."
However, England coach Brendon McCullum defended the actions of his skipper.
"We all know how passionate Ben is, how much it means for him to play for England," he said.
"We've seen that through his bloody-mindedness to get back from injury, which was significant, and to do so in a nine-week timeframe and to have his first TM [Test match] in extreme conditions, 40 degrees, and be able to give what he gave to the side.
"I think, maybe, that's where some of that frustration led to - certainly, it wasn't directed at any of the players. It was more about trying to assess the rhythm of the game, and to impact on it."
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