ANDREW STRAUSS admits Andrew Flintoff must learn when it is appropriate to hit the booze. But the England captain insists poortime-keeping, rather than alcohol,was to blame for the all-roundermissing Saturday’s team bus to anouting in Belgium.
Flintoff failed to make the start of the organised trip to the graves near Ypres to pay respect to servicemen who fought in World War One, instead getting a taxi to catch up with the rest of the squad. The 31-year-old has since been disciplined by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) but it is not the first time his off-field behaviour has come under the spotlight.
Flintoff lost the vice-captaincy of England’s one-day team after the infamous pedalo incident in St Lucia during the 2007 World Cup. And Strauss said: ‘It’s a punctuality issue. He missed the bus but played a full part in the rest of the day’s activities and seemed fine. ‘We had a team dinner [the previous night] and alcohol wasn’t banned but there’s no reason to suspect anything untoward happening.’
Strauss believes Flintoff is aware of his responsibilities and added: ‘I think it’s something he’s been working very hard on, he generally recognises when the times are to drink and when not to drink. ‘It’s important, career-wise, he stays on the right side of that. ‘The vast majority of the time he has done and as he’s got older he has become more and more aware of when the right times are. ‘Of course there have been incidents with Fred before but for us to start looking back on that would be completely wrong at this stage.
‘Freddie accepts he made a mistake and the appropriate action has been taken and we move forward. ‘Punctuality has been an issue recently with a few players and it’s something we’re trying to iron out.’
No comments:
Post a Comment