Every decade or so, up pops a star player whose name will be forever linked to a particular series. And this Ashes it’s been the name of Andrew Flintoff. It’s a seriously flawed scenario as well as it gives the wrong image to a player’s ability and his influence on the game as a whole rather than a series.Yet it allows us to recall some heroes of the past. Those of us brought up on the traditions of great 19th century all-rounders such as Australian George Giffin and England’s W G Grace see today’s heroes in a different, if more illuminating light.Sixty-odd years ago, reading by torchlight under the blankets the exploits of both Giffin and WG in a book penned by the former called With Bat and Ball explained much about the early Ashes battles. How in the 1880s off-field as well as on-field intrigue on wet, uncovered pitches swung the course of the game’s early Test history.Giffin, a solidly built man revered in Adelaide, was in the 1882 side that won the Test at The Oval that spawned the myth that gave rise to the Ashes. In a sense, he was the Keith Miller of his era, one where batting pads and gloves were generally acknowledged to be wholly inadequate and muddy water would squirt up over the instep. Miller was special: flamboyantly different, colourful, stylish and classical with an ability to win a game as a batsman and as a bowler; yet denied the captaincy because he didn’t quite fit in with the norms of Don Bradman’s selection policy.These days an examination of what Andrew Flintoff eats for breakfast finds its way to some tabloid pages more than, say, his ability to wield a hefty calibre of willow. While not quite in the same category as Virender Sehwag, Freddie has them chanting.In an age where England’s current battle to win back the Ashes has generated deep interest, Flintoff is the one all-rounder to emerge on either side who carries that little extra clout. More so than, say Ian Botham, hero of the 1981 Ashes quest.The difference is in personality. Botham traded on a barroom style image with a big mouth. Although showy as a player, Flintoff is down to earth, hates mobile telephones and is more of a throwback to the Edwardian era than Botham’s sharp-edge 1980s in your face style.In terms of technique, Flintoff has emerged as the better batsman.Back in the 1970s and into the 1980s, the game had several quality all-rounders who made an impressive impact: Mike Procter, Kapil Dev, Botham, Richard Hadlee, Imran Khan, Clive Rice and Lance Cairns. Each player had an important role to play and, as with Hadlee, an icon in an often struggling New Zealand side, Rice changed the way the game was played in South Africa in the 1980s. They put a high price on individual effort as well as competitive spirit. Although from different eras and employing differing techniques, Procter and Hadlee were looked on as bowlers who could bat. Procter once rattled off six successive first-class centuries.Yet what links them with Flintoff and Jacques Kallis, is adaptability to conditions home and abroad and an ability to bat for long periods when under pressure, and still successfully take on the role of the swing bowler. Some are more explosive than are others.As competitive levels change, so do challenges of combating foreign conditions. This is where influencing the game plays its role. It is where Miller, Barlow, Procter, Hadlee, Rice, Kapil Dev and Imran are the names to remember for what they gave the game as a whole by helping shape its future, not just influencing one country.
