Freddie and the Pedalo

Following the last World Cup in South Africa 2003, where England's progress to the Super Six stage was blighted by the controversial Zimbabwe situation, it would have been nice for this World Cup to pass without any controversy.

So when the England players hit our headlines in the Sunday morning papers, it was more in hope than expectation that we were about to be informed of good news.

The news that a handful of England players had been fined in breach of team discipline (late night boozing!) actually broke on our screens around Saturday tea time.

Then over the proceeding hours, we were made to endure the lambasting of chief trouble maker Andrew Flintoff, and his role in the debacle, by former players, pundits and journalists alike. We learnt 'Freddie' was to not only lose his place in the side for Sunday's crucial game against Canada, but also his role as vice-captain.

So has all the criticism of Lancashire's own loved one been justified ? Well, if you happen to have been living on Mars for the last few days, and do not know what took place, it was like this. According to reports, and as Flintoff put it "a bit of poetic licence", he along with fellow Lancastrian Jimmy Anderson, Ian Bell, Jon Lewis and Liam Plunkett, enjoyed more than a few drinks in a nightclub in St. Lucia, near the team hotel, following Friday's defeat to New Zealand.
Flintoff was then said to have allegedly capsized a pedalo out at sea at around 4am in the morning.

While there is no doubt the basis of this story actually happened, the truthful extent of the pedalo incident is still open to debate, however, he is known to overindulge and self destruct every now and again.

Nevertheless, this regrettable incident has now happened, the players have been appropriately dealt with. You cannot condone what took place, and certainly the timing of the episode was lacking in common sense, when you consider England had an important win at all costs game against Canada on Sunday. If England had been playing, with all due respect, a more gifted side, the decision to drop England's talisman would have been made that bit more difficult for the management, but it was still a relatively brave decision.

If the boys fancied a night out, then surely after Sunday's game, where a six day break followed, would have been more understandable, if still not absolutely necessary. What the management expect of the players is made quite clear to them, and one would expect the players to adhere to the seemingly relaxed instructions.

Mistakes have been made, and hopefully lessons have been learnt, now surely it is time to forget about recent events and concentrate on what England have been sent over there to achieve.
Another cricketing side that have been sent to foreign climes are our own Lancashire, who were due to arrive in South Africa on Tuesday for their pre-season tour.

They will undertake a 12-day training camp in Cape Town, competing in a minimum of five matches, four against South African opposition and Durham C.C.C completing the fixtures. The first fixture against a Boland XI takes place on Friday 23 March.

The players are looking forward to getting some cricket under their belts, having already undertaken a large chunk of their pre-season fitness drills, having returned to training as early as 5 February.

The touring squad has a good blend of experience and youth, with Mal Loye having the chance to put his disappointment of missing out on the World Cup squad behind him. Mike Watkinson found difficulty in naming 17 players to take on the tour with so many being away on international duty.

The tour represents a good opportunity for competitive cricket to be played and to build on the fantastic spirit that is already instilled in the camp.

(BBC Lancashire, 21/03/07)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/content/articles/2007/03/21/cricket_paul_wood_flintoff_210307.shtml