Rocky Flintoff, son of former England all-rounder Andrew, scores century for England Under-19s in second Test versus Sri Lanka; Rocky hit maiden second XI hundred for Lancashire earlier this summer; Andrew to coach Northern Superchargers men in The Hundred, live on Sky Sports from July 23
Thursday 18 July 2024 21:35, UK
Rocky Flintoff, the 16-year-old son of former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, became the youngest player to score a century for England Under-19s in the second Test against Sri Lanka.
Rocky began the third day of the four-day match on 82 and went on to reach three figures from 176 balls before being dismissed for 106 from 181 deliveries.
The teenager hit nine fours and two sixes in England's total of 477 all out, in which captain Hamza Shaikh top-scored with 107 and Jaydn Denly, the nephew of former England batter Joe Denly, made 91.
Ex-England captain Michael Vaughan's son Archie was out for six.
England Under-19 coach Michael Yardy said of Flintoff: "He's a normal teenage lad around the group, but when he gets out in the middle he's more like a 25-year-old."
Rocky hit a maiden second XI century for Lancashire against Warwickshire's second string earlier this summer and followed that up with a hundred for England Under-19s in a one-day warm-up against a Young Lions Invitational XI.
He has also signed his first professional contract with Lancashire.
Yardy added of the youngster: "Rocky scored a hundred against the invitation XI and really celebrated and that's what you want. You want it to mean something to players. Whenever you represent your country and make a hundred, it should feel special.
"He's a young lad and we want him to show that passion, desire and emotion when they do something special.
"He did that [against Sri Lanka] and it will mean even more to him because his parents were on the ground to see him do it."
Andrew Flintoff, nicknamed Freddie, played 79 Test matches 141 one-day internationals and seven T20 internationals for England between 1998 and 2009, helping his side to home Ashes victories over Australia in 2005 and 2009.
He moved into TV presenting after retiring as a player but, after a serious car crash while filming an episode of Top Gear, he returned to cricket.
Flintoff has worked as part of England's backroom staff in the white-ball formats, including at the recent T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, and he will be the head coach of Northern Superchargers men in The Hundred this summer.
Superchargers' squad includes England Test skipper Ben Stokes, who will be available for four matches during the tournament, with Harry Brook to captain the Headingley-based team.
Superchargers begin their campaign at home to Trent Rockets on Friday July 26 (6.35pm start) in a tournament you can watch in full on Sky Sports with all 68 matches - 34 men's and 34 women's - shown live.
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