Andrew Flintoff's manager cum agent Andrew Chandler, has said that it was
not the money that made Andrew Flintoff reject the Wales and England
Cricket Board (ECB) contract, but the fact that there was a clause within
the contract which disallowed cricketers from going ahead with playing dangerous
sports. This would include sports like bungee jumping, something that Flintoff
had plans to do in a television series that Flintoff would participate in later
this year. That, according to the manager ended the contract-signing plans.
The manager added that the all-rounder was not a mercenary, and it was not
for the monetary reasons alone that he called off the contract. But, he did
question the decision of the ECB to give Flintoff a contract which was for $35,000
only. In comparison to that, the Chennai Super Kings would pay Flintoff
$1.5 million for playing six weeks of the Indian Premier League (IPL),
thus making it a virtually impossible for Flintoff to reject the deal. After
all, he said, Flintoff now had a family life, which included Rachel, his wife
and three kids and to be able to cater to them, Flintoff did need to look into
his financial safety as well. The contract would not allow Flintoff to sign
advertisement deals with companies that could be rival the official sponsors.
Chandler questioned the wisdom behind questions raised by former players about
playing without a contract. He said that it would be no different to be playing
without a contract, if Flintoff would be ready to give it all as he had been
doing all this while. It has been said that Flintoff would now be able to pick
and choose his series, which could create differences in the dressing room,
and hence there had been many cricketers who questioned his decision to reject
the contract.
Chandler said that Flintoff could be fit by the time the Bangladesh
tour is around, but the more viable time frame that he was looking at is the
IPL early next year before the ICC World T20. He added that Flintoff would definitely
sign up with his county, Lancashire, and would play the limited overs format
for the side.
Flintoff had got a lot of flak from various quarters on his decision to go
freelance, but, it has been said that cricketers' international association
has backed Flintoff's decision. They have said that it was only natural for
someone like Flintoff, who had given it all for his country, to think about
his future.
|
