Of all of the photographs, it’s the signature pull stroke that the majority calls for the double take: head dipping because the muscular body swivels, weight transferring onto the again foot because the entrance one lifts barely awkwardly from the turf.
It’s a picture from that iconic summer time of 2005 projected by a brand new lens. Ball being belted by the Birmingham breeze and into the stands. Not on the tv screens of a nation infatuated with the Ashes, however on the social media pop-ups of curious county cricket aficionados.
Andrew Flintoff has tried to mute the noise round his two cricketing sons, however the actions of Rocky, 16, at Edgbaston final week screamed for consideration.
Taking part in alongside Corey, 18, for Lancashire’s Second XI, he marked simply his third look with a maiden senior hundred towards Warwickshire.
The candles on his most up-to-date birthday cake had solely been blown out a matter of hours when he hit an unbeaten 50 off Durham’s assault the earlier week.
Rocky Flintoff smashed his first century for Lancashire second XI towards Warwickshire
{The teenager} possessed the identical mannerisms as his father Andrew Flintoff, pictured in 2005
Rocky, (pictured in 2013 together with his dad Andrew), seems to have been taught nicely by the England nice
Such distinctive actions introduced again reminiscences for Mail Sport’s David Lloyd amongst others.
‘All of the mannerisms have been precisely the identical. He simply seemed absolutely the spit of him. The best way he walks, the best way he runs between the wickets, you can see he was a Flintoff straightaway,’ Lloyd says.
As Lancashire head coach, Lloyd watched Flintoff senior intently on the identical age within the mid-Nineties and ventured to the household dwelling in Preston to purpose, over tea and biscuits, that future ambitions can be finest met down the street at Outdated Trafford fairly than with Northamptonshire, whose supply to uproot included a non-public college schooling.
‘Bumble’ later hand him a County Championship debut at 17 and, after a harrowing maiden first-class look involving virtually as many dropped catches as runs, Flintoff would say that he missed his first coach’s knowledgable affect as their paths headed in numerous instructions.
‘Freddie’ is now the one offering clever counsel, taking management of his sons’ early careers. To this point, that has concerned protecting the media at arm’s size, instructing Lancashire to rebuff requests for interviews and images to permit them to give attention to their performances.
It feels inevitable, nonetheless, that he’ll quickly be scanning the phrases of a few rookie skilled contracts.
At Emirates Outdated Trafford, senior gamers acknowledge that the expertise Flintoff displayed in transcending the game together with his exploits towards Australia 19 years in the past has handed by the genes.
‘They’re good youngsters. Rocky is the one which’s obtained the headlines and rightly so, as a result of he’s put a few scores collectively and he’s a strong participant,’ stated England quick bowler Saqib Mahmood, who has been captaining Lancashire’s second XI whereas managing his return from long-term damage.
Rocky (backside centre) and his older brother Corey (left) are having the early levels of their careers fastidiously managed by their father
England quick bowler Saqib Mahmood believes Rocky and Corey can be ‘correct cricketers’
‘In some methods, for batters it may be simpler to make the step up in second staff cricket, since you go from batting on membership wickets to some fairly flat ones at fundamental county grounds and if you happen to’ve obtained approach, as Rocky has, you possibly can put collectively an innings.
‘Corey bats a bit as nicely, although, and so they’re going to be correct cricketers.’
Indisputably, because the siblings debuted collectively in a Roses contest at Headingley earlier this month, in distinction to Rocky’s six-slamming in innings of fifty off 68 versus Durham and 116 off 168 towards Warwickshire, Corey, two years his senior, has made extra modest statements.
That, partly, is all the way down to the truth that the stress fracture of the again he suffered final yr presently restricts him to 4 overs per innings on his return to bowling programme.
However each are nonetheless coming to phrases with their physicality and there are echoes of their father right here: Flintoff performed as a specialist batter for a interval in his late teenagers to keep away from irrevocably damaging his again as boy turned man.
‘Rocky’s arms make mine appear like a toddler’s arms. I couldn’t imagine it after I first noticed them,’ Mahmood observes.
They’re additionally fuelled by an undiluted love of the game. ‘Final week, we performed at Outdated Trafford and when a recreation will get rain affected, I prefer to have a nap. So we had the complete staff taking part in one hand, one bounce within the dressing room and me, the grandad of the group on the age of 27, mendacity on the physio mattress quick asleep. I actually couldn’t imagine how a lot vitality they’d,’ Mahmood continues.
The generational hole was felt extra broadly in Birmingham when the senior professional, taxi-ing a posse of the academy gamers together with Rocky, stopped at a restaurant and provided to shout espresso: ‘I’m used to individuals asking for flat whites or a cappuccino, however they have been like, ‘nah.’ They ordered chocolate milkshakes.’
The journey of his two sons helped Flintoff to re-engage with cricket within the aftermath of his stunning High Geat accident in December 2022
The Flintoffs’ exploits on the cricket subject with Manchester Grammar – alma mater of Michael Atherton, John Crawley and Mark Chilton, and the place one other ex-England participant Mike Watkinson is head of sport – stretch again seven years to when Corey captained the Underneath-11s to a few trophies, together with the Lancashire Cup, inside a fortnight.
And it was by their journeys that Flintoff, 46, re-engaged with cricket. Firstly, shifting them from the native membership of Alderley Edge to St Anne’s, the place he himself performed as a teenager, then on to Southport within the Liverpool competitors, now broadly recognised as the perfect within the north-west.
Deeper involvement got here in probably the most distressing of circumstances final yr, throughout restoration from the stunning High Gear accident in December 2022 that noticed him hospitalised for 5 weeks, when watching his boys in regional tournaments led to some casual scouting work for the ECB.
By the top of the summer time, he was interacting with England gamers, having been invited to observe the Ashes alongside Rob Key, one in every of his closest buddies throughout a profession minimize quick at 31 because of a continual knee damage.
At the beginning of this one, he’s totally immersed within the recreation as soon as extra – a scarcity of teaching {qualifications} conveniently missed handy him positions as an assistant to Matthew Mott in England’s makes an attempt to retain the Twenty20 World title this June, and the principle man with Northern Superchargers within the Hundred.
Flintoff has moved into teaching in current months, working with England’s males’s staff
He initially shied away from the media highlight after being concerned in a near-fatal automotive crash whereas filming High Gear, however he returned to cricket with facial marks final yr
The title may open doorways, however residing with it may be a seismic battle, and as Liam Botham discovered within the Nineties, being the son of a celebrity slayer of Australians is as a lot curse as blessing.
When he took 5 wickets on debut for Hampshire towards Middlesex, together with that of ex-England captain Mike Gatting, he appeared to have seconded his dad Ian’s script author.
However after simply two additional appearances, he switched to the rugby codes, concluding: ‘I can by no means win at cricket having this title. If I do nicely individuals will say I ought to do. If I do badly they might say I used to be solely within the aspect due to whose son I’m. I want I may very well be referred to as plain Liam Bloggs.’
Given the persona of their well-known father, no matter occurs from right here, the Flintoffs are unlikely to do plain.
