London, June 22 (IANS) England's former all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has said his countrymen Ben Stokes is a more talented player than he was, adding that the later has in him to become an England great.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Stokes, 24, evoked memories of Flintoff with a spectacular allround performance against New Zealand in the first Test at Lord's in May.But Flintoff believes Stokes is capable of surpassing his own achievements.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I survived a lot on bravado but I think Stokes has a lot more skill. I think he could be one of England's greats,” Flintoff was quoted as saying by bbc.com on Monday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Flintoff took 24 wickets and scored 402 runs to inspire England's first Ashes series victory for 18 years in 2005.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Ten years on, England is looking to Stokes to help avenge a 0-5 Ashes whitewash in the last series against Australia, starting in Cardiff on 8 July.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"He's an impact player, a personality player. He will have quiet games, but when he does perform he will win matches. I wouldn't judge him on averages or how many runs he goes for with the ball,” he said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
“Look back at the end of the series and see how many games he influences, and I think in the Ashes he could influence two or three games, the 37-year-old said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Flintoff is upbeat about England's Ashes chances despite the fact they have won only one of five Test series since beating Australia 3-0 in 2013.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"You look at it on paper - the captain is scoring runs, you have Ian Bell with 20-odd hundreds, Joe Root's brilliant, Gary Ballance averages 50-odd, Adam Lyth has just scored a 100 and then you've got an all-rounder.”<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Bowling wise, you've got Jimmy Anderson with 400 wickets, Stuart Broad with 280. Mark Wood is raw but I quite like that about him, just let him run in and bowl quick - and then you've got Stokes backing that up,” he said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"The one area which I think they'll be looking at is the spin department. Ashley Giles did such a good holding role for England (in 2005) and I think we need a spinner to do that now.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Moeen Ali could be the man to do that but that's the only one area where they might be a bit weak. Apart from that, they're a good team," Flintoff concluded.<\/p>\r\n", "image": "https:\/\/img.cricketnmore.com\/uploads\/2015\/06\/ben-stokes-a-better-player-than-me-says-andrew-flintoff.jpg", "alt_img": "Ben Stokes a better player than me says Andrew Fli", "alt_title": "Ben Stokes a better player than me says Andrew Fli", "image1": "", "video": "", "seo_title": "Stokes a better player than me, says Andrew Flintoff", "seo_desc": "England's former all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has said his countrymen Ben Stokes is a more talented player than he was,", "seo_keywords": "Ben Stokes, Andrew Flintoff", "tag": "", "tagging": "", "status": "1", "img_rpt": "0", "google": "0", "standout": "0", "edapps": "0", "pulse": "0", "no_index": "0", "feed": "0", "fixture": "0", "slug": "ben-stokes-a-better-player-than-me-says-andrew-flintoff", "user_id": "0", "read_count": "0", "ians_date": "0000-00-00", "ians_time": "00:00:00", "server_time": "0000-00-00 00:00:00", "trash": "0", "view_count": "1434", "page_break": "0", "instant_articles": "0", "auto_link": "0", "created": "2015-06-22 14:21:00", "updated": "2015-06-22 14:21:00", "img_from": "", "img_source": "", "schedule_publish": "0000-00-00 00:00:00", "news_keywords": null, "livescore_text": null, "livescore_link": null, "btn_text": null, "resend_feed": "0", "google_feed": "0", "read_more": "0", "posted_by": "1", "jio_date": "2015-06-22 14:21:00", "scheduled": "0", "news_now": "1", "breaking_news": "0", "google_date": "2015-06-22 14:21:00", "featured": "0", "pred_match_id": null, "article_content_type": null, "link": "https:\/\/www.cricketnmore.com\/cricket-news\/ben-stokes-a-better-player-than-me-says-andrew-flintoff-10742" }