England without Flintoff is a stronger side. England without Pietersen is a weaker side. And yet the crowds, the journalists – me – all seem to love Flintoff and not really love Pietersen.

Flintoff is a distraction. In every spell and every innings we expect heroics – big hitting, dangerous bowling. Towards the end of the Ashes, he tried to live up to this self-styled stereotype despite being a different player: since 2006 he’d accumulated runs, not smashed them and he’s always been a containing bowler.

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