Andrew Flintoff and Graeme Swann will reprise their mentorship roles with the ECB as part of the England Lions’ upcoming training camp in the United Arab Emirates. Flintoff and Swann, regarded as two of the country’s most talismanic cricketers, were both in attendance at Loughborough on Thursday, working with the 20-strong playing group that will fly out on November 17 for a three-week trip, primarily focussing on red-ball skills. Both Flintoff and Swann have been involved with the England pathway over the last 12 months. Swann, who retired in 2013 as England’s leading off-spinner with 255 dismissals at an average of 29.96, accompanied the corresponding Lions tour in 2022. Brendon McCullum will also be in attendance for a portion of the tour, accompanied by a handful of Test coaches along with Key, and will work separately with the Test group while he is out there. It is also likely some players will be pulled away from the Lions training camp for the white-ball tour of West Indies, which begins on December 3. The pair will assist a coaching team headed by men’s elite bowling coach Neil Kileen, alongside Jim Troughton (Surrey) and Paul Tweddle (Somerset). Performance director Mo Bobat, who will be in the UAE for the duration of the trip ahead of leaving the ECB in February to take up a director of cricket post at Royal Challengers Bangalore, lauded the continued involvement of Flintoff and Swann. “At the moment, we have agreed that he will come for the whole camp, but he’s in demand and we will see. He also has a few medical things he is still working through which we have to be respectful of. The plan is that he’s there for the full camp.” Despite his other commitments as a commentator and coach for Trent Rockets, the ECB wants Swann more involved, particularly around spin and tactics. It is an equally green-tinged party, with 10 players involved in the program for the first time, and skewed towards spinners and all-rounders, making the presence of the two modern greats in those roles all the more valuable. The series was Flintoff’s first public appearance since a serious car crash while filming an episode of Top Gear last December. He has since been compensated a reported £9 million by the BBC. The hero of the 2005 Ashes, who scored 3,845 runs and took 226 wickets across 79 Tests, has also worked with the Under-19s, and attended Ashes Tests during the 2023 summer alongside close friend Rob Key, England’s managing director. Key has been integral to Flintoff’s return to the game. Swann, who retired in 2013 as England’s leading off-spinner with 255 dismissals at an average of 29.96, accompanied the corresponding Lions tour in 2022, and was subsequently drafted as a coach for their tour of Sri Lanka at the start of this year. His input, both around spin and tactics, was such that the
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