"I Was 16 Years....": How Wasim Akram Groomed Andrew Flintoff

Andrew Flintoff was a fine all-rounder. His performance grew to the peak during the 2005 Ashes Test. Flintoff starred with the bat and ball against their traditional rivals Australia to earn back the urn after a hiatus of 18 years. And he continued to grow as one of the most lethal all-rounders of the game.

All this accolades comes, after the foundation for Andrew Flintoff, was laid by Pakistan fast bowling legend Wasim Akram. In a talkSPORT podcast, along with former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar, the former Englishman revealed how Wasim Akram groomed his game during his time at Lancashire.

Wasim Akram took me under his wing: Andrew Flintoff

To learn from Wasim Akram at a young age comes as a blessing and Andrew Flintoff earned that. While he was plying his trade for Lancashire, Wasim Akram took Flintoff under his wings and groomed his abilities. In the podcast, Flintoff said, he used to pick up the tips and learnt to bowl better.

“I played with Wasim Akram at Lancashire when I was 16 years of age. He was one of my heroes and someone I looked up to so much,” said Flintoff.

“Wasim took me under his wing and I spent so much time with him. I used to field at slip when he was bowling. I used to pick up all these tips of reverse swing and thumb positions. I think my action also landed itself towards reverse swing as well. Wasim had a massive part in my career,” he added.

Flintoff featured in 79 Tests and 141 ODIs for England. He scored 7410 Test runs at an average of 32.78 besides picking up 226 wickets. In the ODIs, the right-handed batsman scored 3394 runs, and picked up 169 wickets.