Get him out of slips: Flintoff recalls Akram shouting at him during FC debut

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Former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff does not have fond memories of his first-class debut for Lancashire, as one of the biggest days of the cricketing career quickly turned into a nightmare.

While speaking in a video on Lancashire Cricket Club’s YouTube channel, the all-rounder recalled how he was left embarrassed on his debut, after dropping three catches at slips, on the bowling of Pakistan’s great and his Lancashire teammate, Wasim Akram.

“My debut was a disaster. I played against Hampshire in Portsmouth. Bumble [David Lloyd] had said that I was the best slip catcher he'd ever seen and I catch pigeons. I do but in kids cricket,” said Flintoff. “So I got put in the slips in my first game, which is unheard of. I was standing at second slip to Wasim Akram and I dropped three catches before lunch. Wasim then shouted 'get him out of there!'.”

“Can you imagine how I felt? I am seventeen years old, surrounded by all my heroes, dropping catches and one of world’s greatest ever cricketers, Wasim Akram, is just shouting 'get him out of slips!'. It was awful. I didn’t want to be there,” he added.

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Akram also shared his views about the incident on social media website Twitter.

 

And look at you now @flintoff11 . It’s called Tough love and we raised you well 👍😀 https://t.co/3eLI2V6rxr

— Wasim Akram (@wasimakramlive) May 16, 2020

 

Flintoff, in his reply, heaped praise on Akram, for playing a huge role in his cricketing career.

“And I’ll never be able to thank you enough for the impact you had on my career and life,” Flintoff tweeted.

 

And I’ll never be able to thank you enough for the impact you had on my career and life @wasimakramlive x https://t.co/2Qx4z6EteM

— Andrew Flintoff (@flintoff11) May 19, 2020

 

Last month, the veteran all-rounder, in a talkSPORT’s podcast, had shared similar views about the left-arm bowling legend while talking to former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar.

 “Wasim was one of my heroes and someone I looked up to so much,” said Flintoff. “He took me under his wing and I spent so much time with him. I used to field at slip when he was bowling. I used to pick up all these tips of reverse swing and thumb positions. I think my action also landed itself towards reverse swing as well. Wasim had a massive part in my career.”

Flintoff played 79 Test matches and scored 3,845 runs at an average of 31.8, while also claiming 226 wickets with an average of 32.8.