Freddie Flintoff - What a character!

It is safe to presume that when you think of Andrew Flintoff, you think two things, Freddie and Character. Maybe one other thing pops into your mind, Ashes 2005 legend. Whilst the 1981 Ashes belonged to Ian Botham, maybe the 2005 Ashes belonged to Freddie. Yes he played excellent cricket, took 24 wickets at an average of 27.29 runs and scored 402 runs, averaging 40.2, but surely the two best images of Freddie from those Ashes were two that best described his personality and affection with not only the British public, but the world who were watching. The iconic image where he shakes Brett Lee's hand after the second test which England narrowly won and the drunken images of him on top of the open top parade bus with very red eyes and a stumble matched only by George Best. This showed his humility as a person, understanding the professionalism and sportsmanship that he holds as a top class sportsman and also that he is a normal person, one of us you could say...who enjoys a drink just as much as the rest of us. How often do we see sportspeople enjoying a drink in public now? We're British, we love this kind of jovial behaviour! In my eyes - and hopefully yours - he will retire a true British sporting hero who played tough with his heart on his sleeve, played fair but also enjoyed himself and had a relationship with the public that you wont often see a sportsman have.

Freddie is a wonderful player and even though he may not be as strong as he was in 2005 due to the several injuries he has had, he still managed to raise the voice of the crowd in Cardiff last week and managed to spark a good spell from Stuart Broad and a double wicket taking spell from James Anderson. He also introduced Philip Hughes properly into Ashes cricket with a few bouncers and a terrific ball that nipped back for an inside edge to Matt Prior. It is vitally important that he remains injury free (though at the time of writing, he may miss the second test because of his knee) and plays as much as he can before his retirement. He has to be involved just because he gets the other players and the crowd 'up for it'. Every player has to be fighting against the Aussies in this Ashes series and Freddie will make sure that they are.

Looking back at Flintoff's career, it is very creditable and worthy of such note. In 75 matches, he has scored 3645 runs at an average of 31.69 and taken 218 wickets at 32.07 including two 5fors. OK so his figures may not set the world alight but when he has played, he has arguably been consistently England's best bowler over the last decade and a real impact batsman who has scored vital runs - his batting figures from the 2005 Ashes prove this. He will certainly be missed by England and fans alike, most notably, this writer.

Who can fill such a void? How about Stuart Broad? Early indications would show that he can bat with a level head and grab wickets, but only if you ignore his first test outing in Cardiff last week. I feel he suffered to get his head around the moment and build up much steam. He was no where near as aggressive with the ball as he should have been. On the plus note, to save the game, he did face 47 time wasting balls and had a respectable partnership of 32 with Graeme Swann. If Broad gets aggressive, becomes more dependable with the bat and raise his overall spirit, he can certainly be a very good player...he bowls at a decent pace and less importantly, he has a great hair cut.

Moving on to another candidate who is already involved is Graeme Swann. Obviously, he is not a pace bowler, nor is he recognised as an all rounder, but he is seen as a bowler who can bat. You may wonder why have I put him out there, but he can bat as shown with his 31 in the second innings last week and he can bowl, being England's leading wicket taker over the last twelve months. He just needs to take his time between balls, evaluate each ball he bowls and relax. I found him too eager to get through his over. It obviously backfired because he collected no wickets. Swann also has that uncanny ability to have a laugh but remain serious and professional when needed. Only this week I saw him on television describing the players who were best dressed, trained the best etc. and he blatantly mixes well with the players and creates that banter, much like Freddie. Expect a humorous autobiography from him in the future.

Who are the other candidates to take the mantle? Names we could throw into the hat include Luke Wright of Sussex and England Twenty20 fame, James Harris of Glamorgan - a rising young star who already has plenty of runs and wickets in the county championship and Adil Rashid.

Freddie will exit the England test fold and he will leave behind not only a cricketing legacy of passion, prodigious talent and aggression, England will also lose that character we love, the one player that other players wordwide truly respect and behaviour that can be linked to the everyday person of the UK. Test cricket is important to England and without him, it's going to be that little bit more difficult.