IF cricket ever becomes an Olympic sport, Andy Flintoff would light the flame.

Freddie would be perfect for the starring role at the opening ceremony. The physique of a Greek god, the torch-bearer for all that's good about sport.

The Preston giant stepped on to the Oval arena today with a stranglehold on the fourth Test, and with a full house hoping for more heroics, and another celebratory wave of the bat.

Even that is unique. He clutches it around the middle of the blade with one huge hand, thrusting it horizontally towards the crowd, displaying the Strawberry logo which is the title of his fiancee Rachael's marketing firm.

But while that hints of commercialism, Flintoff is one of the few sporting superstars who still embody Olympian ideals.

He's a winner, but totally committed to winning fairly, and enjoying himself along the way.

For the umpteenth time since igniting England's resurgence 12 months ago he brought a packed crowd to their feet yesterday to keep hopes of a second whitewash alive.

His unbeaten 72 carried them to 313-5 after they had slipped to 210-4.

After the treatment they used to dish out to England, it's silly to feel sorry for the Windies, but you can't help a twinge of sympathy for any team which flinches under one of his onslaughts.

Hammered

And of course he loves the Oval where he transformed the final match, and the series, against the South Africans last year and where he once hammered one of the greatest of all one-day centuries for Lancashire against Surrey.

Flintoff wasn't promising anything before he resumed his innings today but everyone, except 11 West Indians, was praying for another spectacular.

Already he has notched up his eighth half-century in successive Tests, putting him on a par with Wally Hammond, Peter May, Ken Barrington, and Graham Gooch. Alec Stewart did it nine times, and John Edrich tops the list on 12.

And, in his 40th Test, he went past the 2,000-run landmark.

Poor Ian Bell was left in the shade, yet the 22 years-old Warwickshire debutant earned his spurs with a fighting 70 after recovering from a dodgy start.

It was a ringing endorsement of Bell's championship form but it's unlikely to win him a place in the South Africa tour squad which is announced on Wednesday.

Bell needed a big century to force the selectors to even consider him rather than Mark Butcher. Tweet