Recalling his famous words to Tino Best in 2004, now part of cricketing folklore, Andrew Flintoff has called his sledge at Lord’s “possibly the best thing” he’s done on a cricket field.
Responding to England Cricket’s video-tweet on the hilarious episode, Flintoff recalled his famous words “Mind the windows”, which even inspired Best to title his autobiography the same.
“Possibly the best thing I’ve done on a cricket field. Thanks for popping in Tino,” wrote Flintoff. 16 years ago, he had made those words famous, standing at first slip and sledging a 22-year-old Best, who was batting at Lord’s against the canny left-arm spin of Giles.
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Trying to take on the spinner, Best seemed edgy, inviting Flintoff to have a crack at the batsman, seemingly mocking his inability to clear the ropes. “Mind the windows, Tino!” said Flintoff, with a big smile on his face.
The move instantly riled up Best, who decided to jump out of the crease soon after, ending up with a splattered set of stumps off a Geraint Jones stumping, and a loud cackle from Flintoff, heartily celebrating his ploy.
Possibly the best thing I did on a cricket field , thanks for popping in Tino 🤦🏼♂️ https://t.co/93ENIKZZqK
— Andrew Flintoff (@flintoff11) June 16, 2020
Richie Benaud, on commentary, took it on from there, dishing out his customary dry humour on the mic as Best trudged back for a seven-ball three. “Ashley has done him now. Whether he outbowled him or outtalked him, I don’t know. The only one [windows] that might get broken is in front of the dressing room as he thinks his way back to the rest of his team.”
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Best, who famously scored 95 against the same opposition in 2012, the then-highest score ever by a No.11 batsman, put out a tweet too, quoting Bob Marley’s “he who laugh last wins”, with a video of him hitting a six during his record-breaking knock.
As the great man @bobmarley said he who laugh last wins 😝👨🏾🦲💪🏾 #MindTheWindowsTINOOOOOOOOO … Nothing like spanking the English around batting at 11 🤣🤣😩😩😩 I’m the king of trolling let’s go @englandcricket …. I got time 😊😊 pic.twitter.com/Nzsl3aPa8j
— Tino95 (@tinobest) June 16, 2020
In 2015, Best had admitted that it was a “good gag” by “legend” Flintoff. “I’m not embarrassed, stuff like that is good for the game,” Best had told ESPNcricinfo. “I always thought Ashley Giles was a decent bowler, but he wasn’t spinning the ball that much, so I had a go.”
