Matthew Mott has hailed Freddie Flintoff’s role in inspiring England’s T20 turnaround in the West Indies, claiming the legend’s travails have brought a sense of “perspective” to the tour.
England meet the West Indies in Trinidad on Thursday night in what is a series-decider to close out the trip after they fought back from 2-0 down to draw level at 2-2, looking more like the team of old with explosive batting displays across successive victories, having been out-muscled by the six-hitting hosts in the first two matches.
Flintoff is part of England’s coaching staff on the tour as his involvement in the set-up continues to grow following his recovery from the Top Gear crash that threatened to take his life last year.
“There was a realisation that the game that West Indies were bringing to us was certainly a power game and talked about matching fire with fire,” head coach Mott said of England’s sudden rediscovery of form.
“A few people spoke. Jos spoke, Freddie spoke and I spoke about that. I’ve really enjoyed Freddie’s perspective, coming in as a guy who’s experienced the highs and lows of the game, to come in and he’s added a lot of fresh energy. It’s a great perspective, obviously what he’s been through in the last year or so.”
Following tonight’s game, England have just four T20s against Pakistan at the start of next summer before flying back to the Caribbean for their World Cup defence in June.
As such, Mott confirmed that a new-look squad is unlikely to change significantly, with Phil Salt cementing his place at the top of the order after back-to-back hundreds, though places will be kept for the likes of Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Jonny Bairstow, assuming form and fitness.
“Ben, aside from his incredible match-winning ability in every department, gives us that ability to have a seam bowler in your top six that gives you so many options with your team balance,” Mott said. “It makes selection a hell of a lot easier. So that’s a given.
“In terms of Jofra, you’ve just got absolute box-office pace, change of pace, bowl any over in the innings. Bowl your Super Over, bowl your last over when they need to. Him on the park is massive, everyone would agree with that.”
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