He’s better than me . . . and Beefy!

THE old Andrew Flintoff is talking about The New Andrew Flintoff. ‘I genuinely don’t think there is a comparison. He’s better than me. I’m not being humble here or playing myself down. I was decent, yes. But Ben Stokes can be another level. He needs to set his sights higher.’

Set his sights where? ‘Don’t call him an all-rounder, for a start. He’s better than that! I always thought being an all-rounder suggested you can do a bit of everything but you’re not a master of any of it. Ben Stokes can bat. He’s a batter.

‘We look for this mythical allrounder in our country, a player who is Superman. And then when he’s not, we like to pick faults.

‘Stokes is more than that. He could bat at three for England. He could be the best pick at No 3 for any country in the world.

‘He can be another Joe Root. He’s a proper batsman. You see his technique, shot selection, aggression.

‘Oh, he can bowl too. We’ve seen that. Ask the South Africans. Trust me, he’s better than me, better than Ian Botham too. Beefy was a hero of mine, but Stokes is a better cricketer. Better than all of us.’

They’ve only met a handful of times, they are not agency stablemates or friends, so this joy in Stokes’s growing status is genuine. Flintoff ’ s kids ‘ love watching Stokes play’ and he was at The Oval where Stokes was man of the match for his all-round display to help England to a 2-1 series lead. He will go to Old Trafford for the final Test starting tomorrow too.

This debate, comparing Flintoff

‘He’ll get a ban. You can’t have that fire and ask him to change’