Flintoff past his prime: Gatting by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Player:	MW Gatting, A Flintoff
Event:	Australia in British Isles 2009

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DateLine: 2nd July 2009

 

Former England skipper Mike Gatting said England should learn to play without Andrew Flintoff as he is past his prime. Gatting said that the team can win the Ashes without the sensational all-rounder and he can be replaced.

 

"You would not want to because he (Flintoff) gives you so much, but England need to learn to play without him," Gatting was quoted as saying in the Times.

 

"We won without him against the West Indies when, to me, Graham Onions was a revelation.

 

"The way people are talking at the moment, you wouldn't expect Freddie to get any runs, but you know he'll get wickets and bowl well for you, so you're talking about replacing bowler for bowler - and we have the ability to do that," he added.

 

"In a good group of players you will generally have difficult players. You just have to handle them."

 

Gatting also hailed new English skipper Andrew Strauss.

 

"He's done very well with Andy Flower (the England team director) to cross some choppy waters very quickly," he said.

 

"There's a lot of forward thinking and progress been made from what could have been a very messy situation. It takes strong characters to do that," he said.