All the latest news as the rain delays the start at Emirates Old TraffordWhen West Indies condemned England’s four captains to a 4-0 defeatEmail Daniel with any thoughts | Tweet @DanielHarris 2.55pm BST Allow me to explain. Obviously James Anderson is England’s greatest male bowler, but if you were allowed to roll up one man to take around the world with you, would it be him? Here’s the thing with Flintoff: his average, strike rate and wickets aren’t the best, but his best was the best. From when he got good until he stopped being good, he troubled every single batsman he faced, stock bowler and strike bowler in one. We compare him with Ben Stokes partly because he was an all-rounder and partly because he had the kind of competitive charisma that allowed him to refocus a game and make it entirely about him. But as bowlers, there is no comparison, just as there is no comparison as batsmen. Stokes is a late-era Botham, somehow able to personality wickets, but Botham is early-era Botham and more, working over the greats, forcing dismissals at the other end and generally terrifying to face. This is not to denigrate the brilliance of SP, MJ and SJ – they were a team – but if you ask the Aussies who they least enjoyed facing, you would find a uniformity of answer. 2.49pm BST Thanks Tanya and word em up everybody else. I’m afraid I have to begin by being extremely definitive: the correct answer is Andrew Flintoff. Continue reading…
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