EXCLUSIVE
It’s far too early to say for sure, but for England cricket fans, the second coming of the great Freddie Flintoff may have arrived in the shape of his son, Rocky Flintoff.
Rocky is already showing he is a special talent, breaking his famous dad’s Lancashire second eleven batting record at just 16-years-old. But, it wasn’t the record that caught the eye of the cricket world, it was how his batting style and mannerisms reminded everyone of his father.
2
The good news for England fans is that Rocky plays alongside elder brother Corey in the Lancashire second team and they are part of a talented group of youngsters who are all sons of England’s 2005 Ashes series winning heroes.
Ashes captain Michael Vaughan’s son Archie is breaking through at Somerset, Andrew Strauss’ son, Sam plays age group cricket for Berkshire, Ian Bell’s son, Joseph is showing promise and talkSPORT’s Steve Harmison has a 16-year-old son, Charlie, who is impressing with Northumberland.
Charlie Harmison played against Rocky Flintoff last summer, with both dads watching from the boundary.
It’s not just the 2005 Ashes legends whose sons are making an impact, as Harmison, who famously dismantled the West Indies in 2004 with 7 for 12, said: “There’s quite a few players that I played with growing up, like David Sales, his boy is doing brilliantly at Northamptonshire while Mark Ealham’s son is doing well at Surrey.
Read more
“Rocky is a very talented young cricketer who needs a bit of time for his body to develop, like Andrew did. Corey is a little bit older and like my son Charlie, is going to be a little bit of a late developer.
“Having Andrew Flintoff in your corner is having one hell of a person, one hell of a human being and as you’ll see with England, very soon, he will be a very fine cricket coach.
“There’s things you can control in life, but unfortunately, your surname isn’t one of them.”
Harmison believes the experience the 2005 Ashes winners possess can help the next generation deal with the pressures that will inevitably come with their names.
“It’s good for 2005 fans and I think it's good for cricket fans that we’re seeing these names that have played for England in the past,” he explained.
"The kids will do well because they have Dad on their side. It will be nice for them to have Dad to chat to and work things out - we’re very good at problem solving.
“It’s about them enjoying themselves and that’s always the challenge of a Dad. I’ve seen so many kids give the game up between the age of 15 and 19 because unfortunately they’ve got parents who try to live their professional cricket careers through their sons.
“I know my deck chair and my wife’s deck chair are the most unsociable deck chairs in the world when we are watching Charlie play or the kids play because we sit as far away as possible.
2
“We don’t say anything during the game, chew the fat on the way home, not go over the top if he’s had a good day or a bad day and ask the right questions about what he was thinking in certain situations.
“If my son goes on to play cricket for Durham and England or if he just plays the game, I am not going to get hung up on where he goes.”
Most read in Cricket
Jon Norman, talkSPORT’s cricket editor, admits there are mixed emotions as the children of the 2005 heroes start to make their own mark. He said: “It’s a mixture of emotions as it makes you feel really old because when I was watching the 2005 Ashes I had been working at talkSPORT for a year so that tells you how long I have been here!
“It’s a bit difficult not to get a little bit excited when you see that [Rocky Flintoff] pull shot because it is like watching Freddie Flintoff, there’s more than just shades of his father in the way that he takes on the shot. Even his helmet seems to fall down in the way that Freddie’s used to.
Read More on talkSPORT
“In five or six years' time a young Rocky Flintoff taking on the Aussie’s would be box office, it would be gold.”
Michael Atherton’s son, Josh has found one way of avoiding immediate comparison to his famous dad, by forging a successful career at Middlesex and England Lions under his mother’s maiden name, de Caires. However, for the rest of the sons, the family name is a constant pressure to deal with.