- Rocky Flintoff burst onto the scene before he had even sat his GCSEs
- His older brother Corey is now closing in on getting his own professional deal
- The teenagers are looking to follow in the footsteps of their Ashes-winning dad
Imagine not only dealing with the famous surname, but also having your thunder stolen by a junior sibling making headlines in men’s cricket before sitting his GCSEs.
That has been the lot of recent times of Corey Flintoff, who hopes to follow 16-year-old brother Rocky into the county cricket ranks ahead of the 2025 season starting next week.
Mail Sport understands Flintoff, 19, is under serious consideration for a rookie deal at Kent after impressing the coaching staff led by Adam Hollioake during a trial period that included him bowling a four-over, pre-lunch spell of seam against Essex at Canterbury on Friday.
Earlier this week, he practised with the Kent squad at the St Lawrence Ground as his father Andrew Flintoff, the England Lions head coach, watched on.
In contrast to Rocky, whose remarkable rise included him hitting a hundred for the Lions in Australia earlier this year, Corey has had things tough, spending the past two summers battling a stress fracture of the back.
Since last September, when his academy contract with Lancashire expired, the bowling all-rounder has been back at Emirates Old Trafford training in readiness for an opportunity with one of the 18 first-class clubs to emerge.
Corey Flintoff (pictured with his dad Andrew in 2013) is set to land himself a professional deal
His younger brother, Rocky (pictured), already has a deal after bursting onto the scene in 2024
Ashes hero Flintoff has moved into coaching, and has seen his sons rise through the ranks in recent months
Wearing the number 17 shirt of Nathan Gilchrist, he pounded in to bowl to Essex captain Tom Westley and Michael Pepper, one of the players called up by England last winter.
Although he went wicketless, simply to be bowling outdoors was a welcome sign for a player who managed just four Second XI Championship appearances plus four in the Twenty20 competition last season due to the back issues that also plagued his dad as a teen.
Rookie contracts for county cricketers below the age of 21 are set at £20,000 per year. Rocky signed his first one for Lancashire last June, weeks after hitting a hundred for the second XI against Warwickshire, and became the club’s youngest first-class player when he made his debut against county champions Surrey seven months ago.
In January, he broke one of his dad’s records, becoming the youngest England Lions or A centurion with 126 against a Cricket Australia XI in Brisbane.
