Updated April 16th, 2020 at 15:08 IST

Andrew Flintoff boldly calls footballer Phil Neville 'Sachin Tendulkar England never had'

Andrew Flintoff shared his junior dressing room with former Manchester United star Phil Neville. Here is what Flintoff had to say about the footballer's skill.

Reported by: Mrigank Pandey
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Phil Neville and his elder brother Gary became football megastars at Manchester United where they won six Premier League titles and a Champions League together. Recently, former England captain Andrew Flintoff talked about his childhood with Phil Neville and made some bold claims about Neville's cricketing talent. Here is everything that Flintoff said.

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"Phil Neville could have been England's Sachin Tendulkar, had he not chosen ManU": Andrew Flintoff

As per a report by talkSPORT, former England all-rounder and Test captain Andrew Flintoff revealed how former Manchester United star Phil Neville was a very talented cricketer. Flintoff recounted how Neville used to play with him during his junior cricket days at Lancashire. The former England all-rounder went on to refer to the younger Neville as "a cricketing genius". Andrew Flintoff explained how Neville used to open the batting and hit centuries for fun. Along with this, he used to also be very effective with the ball.

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Andrew Flintoff calls Phil Neville more talented than his elder brother in cricket

Flintoff then revealed that Phil Neville was offered a Lancashire contract for £2500 (₹2.40 lakh as present value) per year but the youngster chose to pursue football instead of cricket. "If that lad would have carried on playing cricket he could have been England’s Ricky Ponting or Sachin Tendulkar, he was that good.", Andrew Flintoff boldly claimed. Flintoff also said that Gary Neville, Phil's older brother, was an exceptional cricketer too but it was the younger Neville whose talent was too hard to ignore. Flintoff's claims are really monumental when understanding how impactful Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting are to the game of cricket.

ALSO READ | Phil Neville challenges young players to step up for England

Andrew Flintoff is currently at his house like all other sports superstars as the UK lockdown continues to go on. He recently posted a video to his social media to raise awareness towards care packages for National Health Service workers in the UK. Have a look.

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Published April 16th, 2020 at 15:08 IST