It’s just another sport

Andrew Flintoff

Flintoff has set many tongues wagging after it became known that the Ashes hero has taken up professional boxing and is due to take on “Big Bad” Richard Dawson at Manchester Arena on November 30. Those who have met Freddie claim he is not “fluffy” anymore and the former cricketer’s dedication is there for all to see: chiselled cheekbones, crooked nose and most important of all in his eyes there is a spark of a man who has found ‘love’ again. It’s not rare in the world of sport for players and athletes to do well in more than one discipline. Here are some who have had success in a sport other than the ones they excelled in.

Andrew Symonds
With a build like Symonds, no sport is out of his reach. Symonds has been a keen supporter of the Brisbane Broncos since his childhood and was considering a switch to rugby league in 2002 when his cricket career was faltering, but ultimately decided to stay in cricket. On 21 June 2009, he played a game for the Wynnum Manly Seagulls against an all-star team featuring some noted players including Marcus Bai and Steve Renouf.

Viv Richards
Any cricket fan knows what Sir Viv could do with a cricket bat. With those boxer biceps Richards has bludgeoned many a bowler with sheer class and strength. However, not many know that one of the five Cricketers of the Century in 2000 played international football for Antigua, appearing in qualifying matches for the 1974 World Cup. There is a golf tournament named after him too.

Micheal Schumacher
Schumacher is having a not-so-good time since his comeback to Formula 1, but during his retirement days he dabbled at many things and biking is one of them. Michael Schumacher finished on the podium in a motorcycle race when he raced a Honda Fireblade to third place in the SKOOX Cup at the 4.5km Pannoniaring circuit in Hungary.

Kimi Raikkonen
After nine seasons in Formula One which was marked by a driver’s title in 2007, Raikkonen left the circuit to compete in rallying. He was quite good at that too winning the Rallye Vosgien 2010 in France. He won all six stages in the asphalt rally. He has also tried his hand at Nascar.

Denis Compton
Denis Charles Scott Compton was an English cricketer, who played in 78 Test matches, and is also a footballer. Most of his football career was at Arsenal FC. An ICC Cricket Hall of Fame inductee, Comptom made his debut in 1936, and won the League in 1948 and the FA Cup in 1950.

Phil Horne
Philip Andrew Horne is a former New Zealand cricketer who played in four Tests and four ODIs from 1987 to 1990. He also represented New Zealand in badminton at the 1990 Commonwealth Games. His younger brother Matt also played international cricket for New Zealand.

Ian Botham
The world knows who Sir Ian is. A genuine all-rounder with 14 centuries and 383 wickets in Test cricket, “Beefy” held a number of Test cricket records, and still holds the record for the highest number of wickets taken by an England bowler. Just like fellow cricketers Denis Compton, Jim Cumbes and Arnold Sidebottom, Botham was also a talented footballer, and made 11 appearances in the Football League.

Tags: Andrew Flintoff, Andrew Symonds, Denis Compton, Ian Botham, Kimi Raikkonen, Micheal Schumacher, Phil Horne, Viv Richards

Category: Sport, Sports News