'F***ing good bat, Freddie!' - Andrew Flintoff reveals a funny story after he gave Muttiah Muralitharan one of his bats

Andrew Flintoff was one of the vital cogs of the England cricket team during his playing days. A man who was adept both with bat and ball, Flintoff has enthralled the fans with his outstanding performances on the field.

And, the England cricketer has opened up on an incident involving him and Sri Lankan bowling icon Muttiah Muralitharan. And, he has revealed how he gave one of his bats to Muralitharan.

Flintoff and Muralitharan were already friends as they had both played for the same club, Lancashire. So, they also had a sort of ‘unwritten’ understanding between each other. While Muralitharan was not bowling many doosras to Flintoff, Flintoff had returned the obligation back by not bowling bouncers at Muralitharan.

How Muttiah Muralitharan got hold of Andrew Flintoff’s bat

And now, let us come to the interesting part of how Muttiah Muralitharan got hold of Andrew Flintoff’s willow in spite of the then England skipper Nasser Hussain not allowing the England players to even talk to Muralitharan.

Both Flintoff and Muralitharan were using the same bat sponsor, and Muralitharan had asked Flintoff before the match itself whether he could use his willow, as the Sri Lankan did not have any bats left. So, Flintoff told Muralitharan that when the England team goes to field, he should sneak into the England change room, and quickly take one of his bats.

“When we go out to field, go into the England dressing rooms. Just nip in the back door and take one of my bats – but keep the whole thing under your hat,” wrote Flintoff as quoted by The Daily Mail.

So, after England had cleaned up the Sri Lankan top order, out walked Muralitharan to wield the willow for Sri Lanka, carrying Flintoff’s bat. Nasser Hussain instructed Flintoff to bowl short at Muralitharan, but Flintoff told his captain that he will instead bowl a Yorker and get the job done.

So, Flintoff bowled the Yorker, and Muralitharan struck the ball right off the middle of the willow. Flintoff was taken off the bowling attack, and Muralitharan went about smashing the other bowlers as well.

It was then that Nasser Hussain noticed Flintoff’s initials on the bat, and was red with anger. Meanwhile, Muralitharan walked up to Flintoff and said “F****** good bat, Freddie”.