ROCKY FLINTOFF has been chosen by England Lions at the age of 16 – selected by his dad.
Flintoff jnr is part of the Lions’ 16-man squad for their tour of Australia next month with Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff as head coach.
It signals a dramatic rise for Rocky who made his first-class debut for Lancashire only in the summer and now finds himself in England’s second team.
The Lions play three four-matches including a ‘Test’ against Australia in Sydney.
It will be his first clash with the Aussies. His father was the star of England’s epic 2005 Ashes victory and was voted Sports Personality of the Year.
The notion that Rocky might be a candidate for next winter’s Ashes is surely absurd – but anything is possible with Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.
Rocky averaged just 12.42 in the four first-class matches he played for Lancashire but scored a century for the county second XI as well as a hundred for England under-19s against Sri Lanka.
He was in South Africa earlier this month with England under-19s and parachuted into a Lions game against a South Africa XI in which every member of the squad appeared. He scored just four.
‘Freddie’ Flintoff returned to public life helping the England senior team in 2023 following his near-fatal car accident while filming for Top Gear.
Now he combines coaching the Lions with other TV work such as hosting a re-launch of Bullseye, the darts-based quiz.
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Flintoff’s backroom staff includes Graeme Swann, who will work with Shoaib Bashir, picked to gain experience of Australian conditions ahead of next winter’s Ashes.
ECB performance director Ed Barney said: “This tour allows us to evaluate performances, refine preparation and continue working with some of the best emerging talent in the country.”
