England Cricket / Frank Gregan / 05 October 2009 / Leave a comment

A couple of weeks ago Andrew Flintoff became the first English player to reject an England central contract. Frank Gregan wonders whether these are exceptional circumstances given the player in question or the beginning of a new era of freelance cricketers.

His refusal to sign a central contract might be the start of something much bigger. Central contracts are fine when the recipient is a run-of-the-mill international cricketer. In the case of the game's superstars there are far more lucrative deals to be had on the open market and Freddie might not be the last to say “thanks, but no thanks.”

Andrew Flintoff is only 31 but he seems to have been around longer than Bruce Forsyth! He has been a great servant over the years but on occasions he has made the authorities fume with his antics. He is one of those sportsmen that can drop as many gaffes as he likes and no matter how much the media slaughter him, the cricketing public will still continue to love him. He is a loveable rogue but more importantly he has been the best English cricketer of his generation and one of the world's greatest.

He's created a bit of a stir by turning down his central contract which will allow him to keep all his options open. He has now retired from Test cricket and went out in the best possible circumstances, having helped England to recapture the Ashes. A lot has been made of his refusal to give any firm commitment about his future but he is probably wise not to commit to anything at present. He has a massive battle to get himself fit again and ready to face the rigours of one-day international cricket.

He's off to Dubai for three months rehabilitation following arthroscopic surgery to his right knee. You can read War and Peace quicker than you can read Freddie's medical notes with just about every moving part of his body having been injured at some time. He's spent more time in the operating theatre than Phil Tufnell spent at the batting crease!

One of the things that Flintoff is highly respected for is his honesty, he's never shied away from the fact that over the years he has missed a heck of a lot of cricket through injury. He said in an interview last week. "I've been injured since I was 13. Me and bowling have never actually gone together!"

Perhaps the body has not been able to cope with the strains of his bowling action but there is no doubt that when he bowled at his best, he was as good as anybody in the world. It looks a wise decision to retire from Test cricket right at the very top and let's hope that he can make a full recovery from this injury and fulfil his dream of one more World Cup.

His refusal to sign a central contract might be the start of something much bigger. Central contracts are fine when the recipient is a run-of-the-mill international cricketer. In the case of the game's superstars there are far more lucrative deals to be had on the open market and Freddie might not be the last to say "thanks, but no thanks."

Flintoff is not the only Englishman that has an opinion on the subject of central contracts. Not surprisingly, the other one is our only other genuine world class player, Kevin Pietersen. Speaking last week Pietersen said, "the reality of it is now, with IPL and everything around, central contracts are not necessarily going to be things people are going to look forward to." Could it be that Freddie could be the catalyst for radical change to the central contract system? Cricket's equivalent to Jean-Marc Bosman, our very own Freddie Boswell!

Neither Flintoff nor Pietersen will be playing in the much postponed inaugural Champions League Twenty20, which is set to get underway on Thursday. Pietersen's IPL team, Bangalore have a decent chance but it's probably wise to get the first round of matches out of the way and have a look at all the sides before deciding who to back. If you are one of those that likes to get on early there are generous prices available on Bangalore [9.0], New South Wales [7.4] and Wayamba [14.0].

New South Wales look very strong with Simon Katich, Brett Lee, Phillip Hughes, Stuart Clark and Nathan Hauritz in their squad. Their strength in depth is highlighted by the fact that they are joint favourites for the tournament despite being without the services of Nathan Bracken and Brad Haddin through injury, and Michael Clarke, who has opted out in order to take a rest.

Tags: Andrew Flintoff injury, England cricketers, England ODI team, Flintoff central contract, Flintoff injury, Kevin Pietersen contract