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Cape Town - Former Proteas batsman Daryll Cullinan has hit back at Andrew Flintoff after the former England all-rounder said the South African was the worst sledger he had ever played cricket against.
Flintoff - fresh from his T20 Big Bash League stint with Brisbane Heat in Australia - believes today's on-field banter pales in insignificance to when he started playing professionally in the 1990s.
Speaking to BBC Sport earlier this week, Flintoff said: "Twenty years ago, sledging was 10 times worse. Now, with stump microphones and cameras all over, everything gets picked up.
"One of the first Test matches I played against South Africa, there was one fella ... he was the worst I have ever come across - Daryll Cullinan.
"He was horrible. I was only young... the words he called me, I didn't even know what they meant.
"He just went at me and I don't think there's any place for that in any sport or any society."
But Cullinan hit back strongly on Thursday in an interview with CapeTalk567.
“What he said about there’s no place in sport like that, I think he has embellished the story a bit too much. I think he’s typical of a has-been at the moment. He’s trying to stay in the limelight, travelling around the world and I think someone should just sit him down and just say to him he’s being quite a cricket comic quite frankly,” said Cullinan.
“If I wanted to say something to him I would have said it to him in English. The only other language I’m fluent in is Afrikaans, so you certainly don’t want to sledge or say something to them in a language they don’t understand. Anyway that’s his opinion. I think he’s just embellished the whole thing, which Flintoff is about these days.”
Cullinan, 47, played 70 Tests for South Africa, scoring 4 554 runs at an average of 44.21. He also played 138 ODIs, scoring 3 860 runs at an average of 32.99.
Cullinan continued by saying he can’t remember exactly what he had told Flintoff.
“You’re asking me about something 19 years ago. What’s the point in having something to say about it. I think he’s looking for attention quite frankly.”
