Former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has parted ways with The Hundred franchise Northern Superchargers after he couldn’t agree on terms with the new owners, the Sun Group, who also have IPL team Sunrisers Hyderabad in their portfolio.
Flintoff, one of the most charismatic England cricketers of his generation and an Ashes hero, had been the Superchargers head coach for the last two seasons, which had seen a turnaround in their results. The team finished fourth in 2024 before reaching the Eliminator (third) this year. The franchise, based at Headingley in Leeds, was last the season before Flintoff took over and sixth and fifth in the two previous editions.
Flintoff said he wanted to continue in the role but added that he couldn’t do so if he was paid much less than the other head coaches in the competition.
“Unfortunately, I’m not going to do it, which is sad. The past two years I felt we were building something really nice and I’d have loved to see it through. We’ve got new owners. I spoke to them. They phoned up, they said they wanted us to do it, so I said: ‘Yeah, fine. Make us an offer,’ the 47-year-old said on the Beard Before Wicket podcast, co-hosted by Superchargers and England spinner Adil Rashid.
But Flintoff felt the offer wasn’t to his expectations.
“I genuinely don’t do it for the money, although it’s nice, but I’m worth more than just over a quarter of the [salary of] other head coaches,” he said. “I wasn’t encouraged they wanted me anyway, but then also you want to feel valued. So, I said that it’s not going to work for me, and they weren’t going to move on it.”
The Sun Group, who own 100 percent stake in the franchise, after Yorkshire sold the 51 percent control they held to them, in addition to the 49 percent acquired via the auction, took operational control on October 1. They also own the Sunrisers Eastern Cape team in the SA20. The owners claimed they had offered Flintoff a raise in salary.
“We had discussions with Freddie and extended an offer, which was an increase over his current salary at Northern Superchargers. While we would have loved to have him on board, we respect his decision,” a spokesperson said.
Daniel Vettori is the Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach at the moment, but he is currently in charge of another The Hundred team, Birmingham Phoenix.
The Superchargers job was Flintoff’s first coaching stint before he was also appointed in-charge of the England Lions side and he will be with the shadow squad during the upcoming Ashes series in Australia.
Other The Hundred franchises like the Manchester Originals, soon to be rebranded as Manchester Supergiants, and Trent Rockets, could be one the lookout for a head coach soon. Flintoff has said that he has had “a couple of offers” but hasn’t decided anything yet.
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