Cricket great Flintoff gets new role for England after successful TV career

Sport

Cricket great Flintoff gets new role for England after successful TV career

2024-09-07 22:38 Last Updated At：22:40

LONDON (AP) — Cricket great Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff was appointed head coach of the England Lions on Saturday.

The former England captain has been a successful television personality since ending his storied playing career, but his appointment is his latest step into coaching.

“I’m incredibly excited to take on this role with the England Lions. It’s a fantastic opportunity to work with some of the best up-and-coming talent in the country and to help shape the future of the men’s game," Flintoff said.

Flintoff has signed up for the winter tours of South Africa and Australia as well as summer fixtures against India A and Zimbabwe.

Since returning to cricket over the past year, the 46-year-old Flintoff has been an assistant coach at this summer’s T20 World Cup. He led the Northern Superchargers in The Hundred.

He is currently standing in for batting coach Marcus Trescothick for England for this week's test against Sri Lanka.

Flintoff, who was an allrounder, played 79 tests for England and was the 2005 Ashes player of the series.

In December 2022, Flintoff sustained facial injuries from an accident that occurred during filming for “Top Gear" at the show’s test track in Surrey.

The England and Wales Cricket Board said Flintoff was the “standout candidate from a pool of high-caliber applicants.”

“Andrew stood out thanks to his inspirational leadership, coaching expertise, and deep understanding of the game,” said Ed Barney, the ECB men's performance director.

Flintoff begins his role in October and will take charge for the upcoming year.

The Lions program helps to develop the next generation of cricket talent.

“With Andrew’s guidance, the highest potential players will continue to develop, thrive and take their game to new levels," Barney said. "I'm confident his influence will resonate across English cricket, helping drive the game forward.”

Since retiring from the sport — initially in 2010 and then in 2014 — Flintoff has featured in popular TV shows like “Top Gear” and “A League of Their Own.”

He also had a short-lived attempt at boxing.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Phone records show suspect in apparent attempted assassination was near golf course for 12 hours

2024-09-17 00:08 Last Updated At：00:10

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Cellphone records show that the suspect in the apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump was near the golf course for about 12 hours before being confronted by a Secret Service agent, according to court documents unsealed Monday.

Officials said in the documents that Ryan Routh’s cellphone was shown near tree line at Trump’s golf course from 1:59 a.m. until 1:31 p.m. on Sunday. A Secret Service agent shot at Routh after seeing his rifle through the tree line. Routh fled in an SUV being being arrested by local law enforcement in a neighboring county.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A man suspected in an apparent assassination attempt targeting former President Donald Trump was charged Monday with federal gun crimes, making his first court appearance in the final weeks of a White House race already touched by violence.

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, faces charges of possessing a firearm despite a prior felony conviction and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Additional and more serious charges are possible as the investigation continues and Justice Department prosecutors seek an indictment from a grand jury.

Routh appeared briefly in federal court in West Palm Beach, where he answered perfunctory questions about his work status and income. Shackled and wearing a blue jumpsuit, he smiled as he spoke with a public defender and reviewed documents ahead of the initial appearance. The lawyer declined to comment after the hearing ended.

Routh was arrested Sunday afternoon after authorities spotted a firearm poking out of shrubbery on the West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing. Prosecutors asked that he remain locked up as a flight risk. A federal magistrate set additional hearings for later this month.

The authorities did not immediately reveal any new details about Routh or allege a particular motive. But he left an online footprint that reveals shifting political views and intense outrage about world events.

“You are free to assassinate Trump,” Routh wrote of Iran in an apparently self-published 2023 book titled “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War,” which described the former president as a “fool” and “buffoon” for both the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots and the “tremendous blunder” of leaving the Iran nuclear deal.

Routh wrote that he once voted for Trump and must take part of the blame for the “child that we elected for our next president that ended up being brainless.”

He also tried to recruit fighters for Ukraine to defend itself against Russia, and he had a website seeking to raise money and recruit volunteers to fight for Kyiv.

Court records obtained by The Associated Press show Routh was convicted of multiple felony offenses, including two charges of possessing stolen goods in 2002 in North Carolina.

Speaking in a soft voice in court, he said that he was working and making around $3,000 a month, but has zero savings.

Routh said that he has no real estate or assets, aside from two trucks worth about $1,000, both located in Hawaii. He also said that he has a 25-year-old son, whom he sometimes supports.

Secret Service agents stationed a few holes up from where Trump was playing golf noticed the muzzle of an AK-style rifle sticking through the shrubbery that lines the course, roughly 400 yards away.

An agent fired and Routh dropped the rifle and fled in an SUV, leaving the firearm behind along with two backpacks, an aiming scope and a GoPro camera, authorities said. Routh was later stopped by law enforcement in a neighboring county.

It was the second apparent assassination attempt targeting Trump in as many months.

On July 13, a bullet grazed Trump's ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Eight days later, Democratic President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, giving way for Vice President Kamala Harris to become the party’s nominee.

Tucker, Durkin Richer and Long reported from Washington.