Andrew Flintoff has urged England to throw caution to the wind and pick Jofra Archer in their final World Cup squad, reports Cricbuzz.
"It's hard not to," he answered when asked if Archer should make the final 15 for the tournament. "You ask then who I would get rid of? Anyone. I think he's brilliant."
"I know there's a thing about him qualifying, but we've done that for a number of years. When I was a kid, we were watching Robin Smith and were waiting on Graeme Hick to play. We've had KP (Kevin Pietersen) so it's not a new thing. It's just what happens rightly or wrongly.
"But watching the lad bowl - for someone to bowl that quick so easily, with so much control, all the tricks - slower balls, bouncers, yorkers - he's got to be in hasn't he? He bats as well." "I would make sure I would raise my game. It's international sport, competitive and it's a good position for England to be in that you can drop or leave out someone so good." Indeed, Flintoff scoffed at the notion of team morale when it was put to him that, perhaps, a teammate seeing a friend lose his spot for such a big occasion might be a bitter pill to swallow. For Flintoff, a veteran of 79 Tests, 141 ODIs and seven T20Is, that presumption is not one to put too much stock in.
"The only sides I played with that had team spirit were the successful ones. It's a bit of a misnomer. It's funny, because all the sides I played in, the times you want team spirit, when the chips are down, that's when you need it, and we never had it. But when you're winning, everyone's happy. So parachuting someone in to help them win, that'll enhance it."
"With Alex, everyone is quick to judge him and quick to talk about it and have their opinions," said Flintoff. "I don't know the lad's personal position. Rather than the cricketer, we're talking about a lad here. I think that's got to be addressed - where he is as a person as opposed to where he is as a cricketer. "Once you've done that you can make decisions on is he going to play, when he's going to play. But there are so many people, players and ex-players, just jumping to conclusions.
I'm not going to do that because I don't know the circumstances."
