Andrew Flintoff backs England captain Alastair Cook, urges fans to support him
Former England captain Andrew Flintoff has come out in support of the out-of-form Alastair Cook and asked his countrymen to show some love for the struggling Test captain of England. The 30-year-old has 25 Test hundreds to his name but hasn’t scored a century for more than a year-and-a-half.
England is currently on a tour of West Indies where Cook was again dismissed for a paltry score of 11 and 13 in the first Test match at Antigua.
Cook found a supporter in his former team-mate who said that the critics were too harsh on him. He said that Cook was bound to go through a low in his career and he is going to prove his detractors wrong.
"I get fed up of people having a go at Alastair Cook," Flintoff said at the launch of this year’s English domestic Twenty20 Blast competition.
“I was captain when Alastair came into the side," the former England all-rounder added. "I got a lot of things wrong as England captain, but the one thing I got right was picking Alastair Cook.”
"He's one of England's finest ever players. If you have a career spanning more than 100 Test matches, there are going to be blips along the way."
"But Alastair ... will get through this. I'd like to see people outside the England team backing the lad”. It's nice some time when you get a bit of loving from people, and I think that's the only thing that's missing with Alastair at the minute."
On his future with Lancashire
Flintoff played for Lancashire last year after making a return to the domestic T20 competition five years after his retirement in 2009. The 37-year-old is unsure if he is going to play in this year’s competition.
"I've not spoken to Lancashire or head coach Ashley Giles yet," said Flintoff.
"I need to see whether he wants a 37-year-old man playing for his team, and whether I want to play as well.“
On Kevin Pietersen’s possible comeback
Flintoff also talked about the possible return of his former team-mate and ex-captain of England Kevin Pietersen. The 34-year-old Pietersen was sacked last year after a humiliating defeat in the Ashes.
Flintoff said, “He wants to play Test cricket again, but he’s going to have to state his case. You can’t just walk into a side – there are lads, especially in the batting order, in possession of places and performing.”