There will be a new face in Sky’s commentary box this summer with former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff joining the team for this year’s T20 Blast.
Flintoff will work exclusively on the Blast, covering at least eight matches, including the Finals Day at Edgbaston on September 2.
The hero of the 2005 Ashes, who took 226 wickets as well as scoring 3,845 runs in 79 Tests, will provide commentary and expert analysis alongside experienced Sky pundits such as Rob Key, David Lloyd, Nasser Hussain, Michael Atherton, Paul Allott, Nick Knight and more.
Flintoff’s first game in the Sky Sports commentary box will be this weekend on Saturday July 8, alongside Rob Key, Paul Allott and Nick Knight, where Birmingham take on Notts at home.
The former Lancashire man said: “I’m really looking forward to it. Most of the stuff I have done since retiring hasn’t involved cricket but around cricket and around cricketers is where I feel most comfortable.
“I watched most of Lancashire’s games at Old Trafford last year and I’ve been watching on TV and seen Keysy, Bumble and Nasser in the Pod – it looked like they were having a good time.
“I got asked and thought ‘that will be brilliant’. The competition itself is just as good as the IPL or the Big Bash, if not better, and hopefully I can add something to it for the viewers on Sky Sports. I’m just going to enjoy it.”
Please can we can not have Freddie Flintoff shouting ridiculous, egotistical rubbish throughout the cricket coverage. He was a great player, but a very irritating commentator – what happened to the Richie Benaud ‘less is more’ philosophy? The game is obviously different, and more immediately exciting, but do we really need this juvenile rubbish?
I must agree totally with Robert Cameron’s observation .Flintoff should not allow this to become a pantomime ,occasional gentle banter is acceptable ,but hysterical childish outbursts are spoiling the matches.Thank goodness for the mute button!!
I totally agree with the previous comment. Flintoff was a fantastic cricketer but as a commentator he us absolutely dire. Cricket is my passion and unfortunately by employing Flintoff as a commentator he is spoiling my favourite sport to the point I have switched channels when he is on. Sky employ brilliant commentators but Flintoff isn’t one of them. His childish comments are spoiling my enjoyment of the fame. Sky please sack him off our screens.
Sky cricket has a winning formula in Test, One day and 20/20 but has to be careful not to ruin it by getting Andrew Flintoff into the commentary box, the bloke is a complete idiot, shouting ridiculous rubbish and then all around him laughing there heads off, I’m telling you he is not funny one little bit. How anyone at Sky employed him is quite baffling. I turn the telly over as soon as I hear his voice, and I’m not the only one. The bloke has some serious issues in his head.
I am trying to watch the Notts v Somerset match right now and have had to mute it. Freddie’s commentary is amateurish, breathless and full of juvenile nonsense that has little or nothing to do with what is on the screen. Please, Sky, no more ever again. He is simply not up to the job and seems to be trying to turn these very watchable events into game shows, unsurprisingly.
He is awful. Shouting all the time. Singing. Unable to get some players names right. When he is on, I now turn the sound off.
Agree with all the above, his childish buffoonery is spoiling our enjoyment of the T20 – yes he was a great cricketer but he is not, and never will be, a commentator; he should stick to his ‘celebrity’ shows which he clearly enjoys, and which we avoid. People were critical of the day/night test when inebriated fans became too loud during the evening session, but that was not nearly as bad as Flintoff’s behaviour in the commentary box. We now miss the others good comments as we also mute the games he covers. Sky should be ashamed of themselves.