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• Marcus Trescothick says Andrew Flintoff ‘sprinkling gold-dust’ on England team

  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.”

• ECB unable to commit to ICEC report’s equal pay targets for men and women

  Equal pay targets for men and women set out in a major report on equality, diversity and inclusion in cricket cannot be committed to yet by the England and Wales Cricket Board.

  The Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) report published in June said women in the sport were treated as “second class citizens” and recommended that the ECB strive to ensure equal pay on average at domestic level by 2029 and at international level by 2030.

  However, while the ECB is determined to close the gap, it has not committed itself to the report’s timeline for achieving equality.

  Chief executive Richard Gould said: “(Equal pay on average) is something that we would like to achieve. We know though that we need to accelerate the growth of the commercial element of the women’s game.

  “Broadcast value is the key determinant in any of these sports, and that is something we are going to have to deliver on.

  “That’s why we want to be open and honest and say that’s not necessarily something we can do within those timescales, but we’ll have a good go.

  “Most of our current major broadcast contract runs until the end of 2028. We know we’ve got a journey on there.

  “Can we do it in one broadcast cycle? I don’t know is the answer. But we’re going to do whatever we can.”

  ECB deputy chief executive Clare Connor said there was a “live conversation” ongoing about England Women playing a Test match at Lord’s, after the ICEC report highlighted that one has not been played there to date.

  The ICEC report, which was based on evidence gathered from over 4,200 individuals and organisations connected to cricket, found racism was entrenched in the sport, and that women routinely experienced sexism and misogyny.

  It also found the sport to be elitist, highlighting cost barriers within the talent pathway and also issues around cricket’s regulatory and complaints procedures.

  The ECB set out its formal response on Monday which included commitments to:

  :: Invest £25million per year above the revenue it receives from the women’s game into growing women’s and girls’ cricket at all levels.

  :: Removing finance as a barrier in the talent pathway by 2025.

  :: Developing action plans to tackle specific barriers facing state school and black children.

  :: Setting up a new Cricket Regulator independent of the ECB, to act as prosecutor in disciplinary cases, in time for the 2024 season, and commissioning annual assurance checks to ensure the Regulator is truly independent.

  :: Enhancing EDI standards for counties, including more ambitious targets for gender and ethnic diversity.

  :: Assessing counties’ performance against minimum EDI standards, and having the power to reallocate matches from venues if there is evidence of non-compliance.

  Gould added: “I reaffirm our absolute commitment that cricket will strive to become the most inclusive sport in England and Wales.

  “This response represents a set of actions that will accelerate and intensify our work to make cricket a game for everyone, actions that cricket can deliver and fund within an achievable timeframe.

  “It builds on a huge amount of work which is already under way right across the network.

  “Cricket hasn’t got it right in the past, but this is an opportunity to move forwards together.

  “I’d urge everyone to now come together, to put their energy and effort into delivering these actions, and to playing their part in ensuring cricket becomes England and Wales’s most inclusive team sport.”

  The MCC is set to respond separately later on Monday to an ICEC recommendation that state schools finals days replace the annual Eton v Harrow and Oxford v Cambridge matches at Lord’s.

• Surrey close on title as rivals Essex beaten by Liam Dawson-inspired Hampshire

  Surrey will go into the final week of the LV= Insurance County Championship title race in pole position after Essex fell to a three-wicket defeat against a Hampshire side inspired by Liam Dawson.

  Continuing an outstanding season, Dawson made 119, contributing to a fifth-wicket stand of 184 alongside James Vince as they took the game away from second-placed Essex at Chelmsford.

  Dawson had come to the crease with Hampshire, set 267 for victory, having been reduced to 32 for four but went on to make his third century of the season while Vince made 89.

  It means Essex will go into their final fixture 20 points behind reigning champions Surrey, who held on to draw against winless Northamptonshire at the Kia Oval.

  With relegation looking inevitable, Northamptonshire gambled against the leaders as they enforced the follow on with a first-innings lead of 172, but they could not make it pay.

  Surrey openers Dom Sibley and Rory Burns batted diligently in the hour before lunch against some testing new-ball bowling from the visting seamers and throughout the final two sessions in some of the best batting conditions of a rain-affected four days.

  By the time bad light brought about an early close, they had reached 142 without loss, with Burns on 71 and Sibley 67.

  Relegation-battling Kent salvaged a draw from their rain-hit match against Somerset after being made to follow on at Taunton.

  The visitors were bowled out for 235 in their first innings, 169 shy of Somerset’s total, after being reduced to 31 for four before Joe Denly pitched in with 73.

  Somerset put them back in with the hope of some quick wickets with a possible 41 overs remaining, but Kent made it to 44 for two before the players shook hands early.

  The draw was enough to put Kent one point above Middlesex, who dropped into the bottom two after an eight-wicket defeat to Warwickshire.

  Opener Sam Robson carried his bat for an unbeaten century but it was not enough for the hosts, who were bowled out for 251 in their second innings.

  Following afternoon rain, Warwickshire had only 10 overs in which to chase 58, but Rob Yates and Ed Barnard made it across the line with nine balls to spare.

  There was an early end to play at Old Trafford where rain forced a draw between Lancashire and Nottinghamshire.

  There were only 15 overs played on the final day, with Lancashire reaching 272 for seven in their first innings. But with Nottinghamshire yet to bat there was never any prospect of a result.

  In Division Two, Worcestershire moved within touching distance of following Durham into Division One after their match with the newly-crowned champions ended in a draw.

  With a result out of the question, Worcestershire were restricted to adding one bowling point as Durham captain Scott Borthwick made a chanceless century and Ollie Robinson contributed 84 to a first innings score of 371 for four at the close.

  Worcestershire go into the final week as strong favourites to go up after closest challengers Leicestershire saw their match against Yorkshire ruined by the weather.

  More rain on the final day robbed Leicestershire of the chance to chase the win they realistically needed to stay in the hunt.

  It also finished as a draw between Derbyshire and Sussex after rain brought about an early finish at the County Ground.