I think Freddie Flintoff makes people feel like they can conquer the world
Rob Key is into his fourth summer as England’s managing director of men’s cricket but is well aware that his tenure will be judged by the outcome of 10 Test matches.
A crucial member of his team is Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff. The pair were close friends in their playing days and Key ushered Flintoff back to cricket after his horrendous car crash on Top Gear.
Now he runs England Lions, nurturing the next generation of players. This is a delicate job, because England are as adventurous with selection as they ever have been.
Crucially, the Lions set-up is an opportunity for Flintoff to prepare himself for the main England side, too.
Rob told The Telegraph: “I think he’d be an excellent head coach of England.
“Fred’s got that real inspiration. He’s been there, he’s done it. He understands what he says.
“He’s more like Brendon McCullum, where he understands what you’re going through. So when you speak to Fred about players, you get a rundown really on not just them as the player, but what they’re really like, what they’re going through, what they think, you know, which is really important.
“He makes people feel like they can conquer the world really. And he does it in a subtle way. You can’t just tell people ‘you are great’.”
He believes that Flintoff is capable of using the stick as well as the carrot, though.
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He added: “It’s no different from raising your kids at times. If you just tell your kids they’re great all the time and give them everything they want... You’ve got some pretty average kids growing up I reckon, and it’s no different as players.
“The last thing you want is entitled cricketers who think that everyone should be doing them a favour.
“You want to create players that everyone wants to follow, because they’re bloody good players who go out there, win games of cricket, and they’re a great role model.”