7:00am Saturday 27th June 2009
By Graham Hardcastle
AUSTRALIAN Stuart Law is still backing his compatriots to win the Ashes, even though he was on the receiving end of an Andrew Flintoff masterclass at Derbyshire on Thursday.
Flintoff cracked 93 off 41 balls in a Twenty20 Cup match, including nine fours and three sixes, in his final competitive innings for Lancashire ahead of the Ashes.
Law, the former Lancashire captain, to describe the knock as “awesome”, while Flintoff described it as one of his best innings for the Red Rose county.
“He doesn’t look like he has missed too much cricket,” said Law. “It’s maybe not so good for the Aussies, but pretty good for England. Australia were probably watching that with interest.
“We didn’t bowl particularly well at him, we gave him easy runs, but he was still good enough to whack them away.
“I don’t think Australia will get whacked for four or six three times in an over. They have got more quality than that. The Australians will definitely have different plans to him than we had.”
Despite the fact that Law has been a qualified UK citizen for almost four years, the Queenslander would not dream of supporting anybody else other than Australia.
“I still think that the Australians will be too tough for England, but that is just me speaking as an Aussie. It’s certainly not a one horse race,” he continued. “If Freddie stays fit for the whole series, and they do the right thing and get Steve Harmison back in, I do think Australia could find it tough.
“I still think the most dangerous bowler in this country, and I’ve said it for 10 years, is Steve Harmison. Apparently he is bowling faster than ever. Why wouldn’t you pick him?”
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