England All-rounder Andrew Flintoff is bowling and batting better since he’s been relieved of the England cricket captaincy, coach Duncan Fletcher said Wednesday.
Flintoff performed well individually in the three tri-series matches when Michael Vaughan took over as skipper. England wins in two of those matches put them into the tri-series finals against Australia, beginning on Friday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Fletcher said Vaughan’s leadership was important to Tuesday night’s win over New Zealand in Brisbane, and that Flintoff was enjoying his cricket and performing well without the pressure of captaincy.
”We feel when he’s not captain he feels a little bit freer and his batting — and especially his bowling — is a lot more confident and there’s a weight off his shoulders,” Fletcher said.
”He seems a lot more relaxed. Anyone who’s not captain of the side would be a little bit more relaxed. I don’t think there’s a captain who goes in there and feels very relaxed when he’s leading his country.”
But Fletcher would not speculate on whether it was a mistake appointing Flintoff captain for the Ashes series in place of the injured Vaughan.
Flintoff struggled individually on and off the field, and Australia won the series 5-0.
”We could have had another inexperienced captain. We could have picked [Andrew] Strauss,” Fletcher said. ”He’s very, very inexperienced and to come out here and captain in Australia is a very, very difficult job.
”Until you know what the result is, then you can look back and say, ‘Hold on, in hindsight I could have made a mistake’.”
Vaughan missed the previous five games before Tuesday’s win because of a hamstring tear, and again experienced soreness after the match. His fitness will be reassessed Thursday. — Sapa-AP