WHEN was the last time, in any sport, that an opposition player was applauded off the field from all sides having just slaughtered the home team?

Andrew Flintoff achieved that rare distinction following his wonderful 93 for Lancashire in the Twenty20 Cup match at the County Ground last week.

Flintoff's status as a national treasure was confirmed in the 2005 Ashes and nothing since has happened since then to knock him off that pedestal – or should that be pedalo?

But his popularity does not appear to have affected him as a person and perhaps part of the reason why Flintoff is so well received was illustrated before the game started.

A large crowd gathered at the Derbyshire nets while the England women were playing their Twenty20 international against Australia as word got around that Freddie was having a bat.

Plenty of other high-profile sports people would have pushed their way through the crowds after the session, muttering excuses about having to get ready for the match, but not Flintoff.

He spent around an hour signing autographs and smiling for the camera until everyone – and they must have numbered in the hundreds – went away happy. What an effort.

What a contrast, too, to the performance of another of the 2005 heroes three days later.

Michael Vaughan was left out of the Yorkshire side for the game against Derbyshire after news of his impending retirement was leaked.

Vaughan wanted to play in what would have been a farewell to Headingley but – quite rightly – the captain and the coach did not think that was appropriate.

Vaughan was clearly not happy with the arrangement, even though he surely had a hand in leaking the news he was to quit through the newspaper he writes a column for.

He signed a few autographs and watched part of the match from the balcony with his young son but generally carried the demeanor of a man who had just been told he needed to undergo a particularly intrusive surgical procedure.

Vaughan refused to talk to the assembled press, which is his prerogative but was a little churlish in view of the fact that his retirement had become an open secret.

Would Freddie have handled it in the same way? Probably not.