Andrew Flintoff’s children set to feature for St Annes CC this season

After months of waiting, the new cricket season begins tomorrow with a familiar surname ready to make a mark at St Annes CC.
Andrew Flintoff as a young player at St AnnesAndrew Flintoff as a young player at St Annes
Andrew Flintoff as a young player at St Annes

More than 30 years after he played his first game for the club as a junior, two of Andrew Flintoff’s children are set to feature this weekend.

Corey and Rocky Flintoff are in line to figure for the second XI in their home game against Great Eccleston.

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It is a path Preston-born Flintoff Sr knows well, having first featured for St Annes in 1989 before making his first XI debut aged 14 – and then returning in 2014 ahead of his comeback to the county game with Lancashire.

Club chairman John Cotton explained: “It’s a bit of kudos for the club.

“They have signed on to play senior cricket and are both in the Lancashire junior set-up.

“It’s more than 30 years now since Andrew joined but he contacted me last week and said he was thinking of bringing his boys over to play at St Annes.

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“It’s a great coup for the club and it shows he obviously holds the club in high regard. If they perform and they are good enough – and the opportunities arise – then we’ll see how it goes.”

Following in the footsteps of a high-profile parent brings its own pressures, not least when their father is one of English cricket’s top names.

“I think he tries to keep them away from as much pressure as possible but they must be very talented like he is,” Cotton added.

“We just have to make sure they are well looked after by our coaches and the captains.”

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St Annes’ new arrivals provide another talking point going into a season some may have thought would not happen.

The coronavirus pandemic and subsequent government advice meant there were doubts as to whether recreational clubs would play at all in 2020.

But the easing of restrictions has allowed for some play, even if it was not the league competition anticipated at the beginning of the year.

Instead, teams from the Northern Premier League and Moore and Smalley Palace Shield will compete in localised round-robin leagues over the next two months, with the first round of game this weekend.

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Group A of the tournament is made up of Fleetwood, St Annes, Blackpool, Lytham and Thornton Cleveleys.

Fulwood and Broughton, Garstang, Longridge, Preston, Great Eccleston and Kirkham and Wesham will make up Group B.

In Group C, Vernon Carus, Penwortham, Exuton, Leyland, Chorley and Eccleston will do battle.

Group D will see Lancaster, Morecambe, Kendal and Netherfield compete.

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