"SHAMEFUL … Father-of-one Freddie Flintoff was TOO DRUNK to talk to the press yesterday and was spotted swigging VODKA for breakfast after an ALL-NIGHT binge drinking session that experts say could leave his liver in a worse state than George Best's … His 24-hour bender cost cricket bosses £34,000 and left swollen-eyed Freddie, 27, barely standing and slurring his words … The pissed all-rounder even TOLD Tony Blair to open a bottle when he arrived at No 10. He even held up baby daughter Holly after 18 hours of drinking … WILL HE NEVER LEARN?"
No, indeed. "OFF HIS FRED!" says the Sun adoringly this morning, picturing a bleary-eyed Andrew Flintoff. "Don't worry, mate … you've urned it." Could this be the same paper that warned only last week that "plans for round-the-clock drinking will worsen Britain's binge drinking epidemic"? Or that "cheap booze is a key element of the problem, according to Aussie professor Wayne Hall"? Or that regularly urges readers to cut down on the booze? It could and it is. So why the double standard?
Firstly, the team are enjoying a tabloid honeymoon. Today's England team are a relatively clean-living lot who took part in a PR stunt for the Department of Health's "5-A-Day" fruit and veg campaign last week. You can hardly knock them for pulling an all-nighter after winning the Ashes. Secondly, their champagne and G&Ts look tame after the roasting and snorting in which some Premiership footballers have indulged - not all of whom had much to celebrate at the time. It helps, too, that Flintoff was suffering a bit yesterday. Most of us have had a hangover. Don't worry, mate - and remember, there's nothing the papers love to tear apart more than a sportsman with a clean-living image. Just look at David Beckham.
