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Flintoff will intimidate Australia throughout the summer

With the exception of the 1956 series which was won by Jim Laker taking 46 wickets, every Ashes series that England have won since 1930 – starting with Harold Larwood and Bodyline – has been won by pace. And Flintoff’s spell was up there with his own bowling in 2005, and Ian Botham’s in 1985 and 1981, and Bob Willis’s at Headingley in the latter year, and John Snow’s, and Frank Tyson’s and Brian Statham’s, and so on.

It will have a psychological impact on the rest of this series too. When Flintoff plays, Australia’s batsmen will view him as virtually unplayable. Because he was, from the pavilion end, unplayable as he pounded in and delivered at 90mph, jagging down the slope or holding the line, and pitching a slightly – but crucially – fuller length than he had done in Australia’s first innings.

And give Flintoff credit too for taking the crowd with him. It is showmanship if you like but it is also the attribute of the elite sportsman. Inspired and inspiring, Flintoff and the Lord’s crowd between them overwhelmed Australia.

But the second Test was not won on the fifth morning; it was won on the first. Flintoff dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s with a heroic flourish, and saved England much anxiety.

But it is inconceivable that Australia would have chased down 522 even if Flintoff had not been there, provided Graeme Swann was around. The closer Australia got, the less freedom their lower order could have batted with.

The game was won by England’s opening pair of Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook, in their record-breaking partnership (for England v Australia at Lord’s) of 196, if one single factor has to be taken out of the team’s performance. Ricky Ponting admitted that Australia had been forced to chase the game from lunchtime on day one, when England were 126 without loss. Their bowlers tightened up thereafter but it was too late. The winning margin was 115.

If Ravi Bopara and Graham Onions contributed least, they still added something to an exemplary team performance. England’s bowling was a collective masterpiece: they were at the Australians all the time, consistent and ruthless, never taking the pressure off except when Paul Collingwood filled in time before the second new ball was taken on the fourth evening and England meandered.

On this very substantial cake Flintoff’s bowling was the icing. He risked arthritis in his right knee for the rest of his life. His retirement will not be entirely free of painkillers. He was England’s standard-bearer. Now march on, England, after a very well deserved rest, and please regain the Ashes.

(C) The Telegraph Group, London, 2009

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