Andrew Flintoff backs Joe Root to lead England to a series win

Alastair Cook recently stepped down as the captain of the English Test team. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) decided to appoint Joe Root as the captain for the longest format of the game. Root will become the only 80th player to lead England in Test cricket. ECB announced its decision in February this year, but Root has had to wait for 3 months for his chance to come as they were playing limited-overs cricket in that period.

Andrew Flintoff backs Joe Root

England after hosting the Champions Trophy and the T20I series against the Proteas will face the same opponent in a 4-Test series. One of England’s greatest allrounders and without a doubt the most prominent seam bowling allrounder amongs them Andrew Flintoff has come out in support of Root and has said that he expects the new English captain to lead his country to a convincing series win over South Africa.

“He’s obviously a fine player, he’s got the team behind him and as captain that’s all you need so, he’ll be fine. The one thing England have been over the last few years is aggressive – they go out there and take it to the opposition.” Andrew Flintoff was quoted as saying by the Sky Sports.

India’s Virat Kohli, New Zealand’s Kane Williamson, and Australia’s Steve Smith have improved even further after being handed the responsibility of leading their teams. Flintoff said extra burdens won’t hurt Root’s batting form.

“I’m not sure Joe is going to be affected, to be honest,” said Freddie. “Since he started playing international cricket he’s taken everything in his stride – he walks out onto the field every time like it’s the best day of his life and that can be infectious.”

Flintoff also lauded the current England team as the best at the moment. ‘Joe will want to put his own stamp on the team, but that will come in time; the team will evolve. But what a time to captain England – they’ve got probably the best team in the world,’ he added.

Flintoff brands England as favourites

The 39-year-old further said that he expects Root to stamp his authority over the team and said that he thinks England is the best team in the world and feels that though the South African team is strong the hosts should prove too good for them.

“I just look at the England side – and this is not a slur on South Africa as they have got some quality in there as well – and I just don’t see how things can go wrong.” Flintoff further said

England beat South Africa 2-1 in both T20I and ODI series in this tour played on either side of the Champions Trophy. The test series will get underway on 7th July.