ANDREW FLINTOFF was on the front page of a national newspaper recently, holding his newly-born son. And I wondered about the images of Freddie that we have seen in recent times, including the photograph of him at the end of the Edgbaston Ashes Test where he is seen to commiserate with Brett Lee.

Turning to the sports pages of that same newspaper, I found pictures of a certain footballer accused of cheating by diving. If not before, I fully realised then, why Freddie is justifiably THE icon of British sport.

He proves that you can play competitively, with aggression, and yet still maintain the highest standards of sportsmanship.

Of course, it is difficult to compare cricket and soccer. There is more instant pressure in football. I played both professionally, and appreciate there is a different culture.

If I chased a ball to the boundary and it touched the rope before I grabbed it, I would automatically signal a four. But, in my goalkeeping role, would I signal a goal if I had pulled the ball back into play, knowing it had already gone over the line? Maybe not.

Freddie , though, crosses sporting divides, which is why so many young people look up to him as a role model.

We have a highly successful Cricket Education Centre which operates in conjunction with local schools.

It started with around 75 youngsters passing through in a year, it now attracts 1,100.

We hope that those boys and girls will keep coming to Old Trafford. We had 3,500 junior members last season, and aim to beat that this time with Freddie standing head and shoulders above anyone else as their sporting hero. Tweet