Cricinfo - Blogs - Rob's Lobs - Reality bites for Flintoff

Botham reached the pot at the end of his rainbow with almost indecent haste then spent the last six years of his international career hamstrung by back trouble and trading on reputation and psychological muscle, with ever-diminishing returns. After a slow-motion overture, Flintoff’s development was convincing enough to persuade us that, if he was unlikely to net the best part of 400 Test wickets at 28, as his predecessor did, the odds were firmly on him comfortably outstripping Botham’s batting average of 33 and easily outdoing him as a limited-overs force. As things stand, however, his Test averages are 32 with bat and ball, and all the signs are that his final figures will deteriorate rather than improve. If, that is, he ever plays another five-dayer.

What the pair have in common is the true allrounder’s stubborn refusal to accept the word of their bodies and prolong their productivity by focusing on one of that mighty bow’s mellifluous strings. Had Botham’s ego allowed him to put all his eggs in his batting basket, it does not seem fanciful to suggest that the last five years of his Test career would have produced a few more centuries. Or even one. Instead, he declined alarmingly on both fronts. Flintoff’s bowling remains highly effective – albeit rather more conspicuously in the one-day fray – but it is now 32 innings since he made the most recent of his five Test tons. Like Botham, his batting has recently suffered from a lack of concentration and discipline, a surfeit of recklessness and a reluctance to adapt, in technical terms or to the collective need. In short, he seems to have reverted to the unthinking cricketer who once drove county and agent to hair-tearing fury.

In fairness, this may be due less to an obstinate belief in his own apparent superpowers (Botham’s Achilles heel-in-chief) than a symptom of depression. Between 2003 and 2005 he soared to the very summit of cricketing attainment, as lethal with bat as ball, a matchwinner for all seasons, a folk hero without contemporary parallel in English sport. When his body rebelled, it was as if he had been marooned in a cave with an Everest’s worth of greenest kryptonite. Were the mediocrity and brevity of his captaincy unconnected? One seriously doubts it.

So what now? Some have proposed that he train his sights solely on the abbreviated game, the better to protect and preserve. It might be sensible but it would also be a terrible pity. Besides, can you imagine him being content to operate exclusively on what most if not all cricketers regard as the lesser stages, to give up, in effect, the theatre for an endless stream of Hollywood potboilers? I can’t.

One can only pray, for Flintoff, for English cricket and for the game as a whole, that the surgeons can work the requisite wonders and restore him to full working order. Whether they do so or not, let’s hope he takes a good look in the mirror over the coming months, learns from Botham’s errors, acknowledges that Garry Sobers was the exception rather than the norm, accepts his vincibility and sets greater store by the runs column than the wickets.

With all due respect, Flintoff in my opinion was never the demigod and uber all-rounder he was made out to be in British press. Sure, he is a supremely gifted athlete, but then at international level, everyone is. The mark of a true great allrounder is that fire in the belly and above all consistency and alas, Freddie has neither. He had a couple great seasons, no one can ever take that away from him, however there is no way you can count him among the greats like Botham, Imran, Kapil and Hadlee. He reminds me of Irfan Pathan who was being hailed as the savior of Indian cricket but fizzled out as well. lets hope his current comeback fulfils his early promise. As far as Flintoff is concerned, if he can make it back to his old form, awesome for England, but he has to win a bunch more series on the back of his batting and bowling performances to be counted as one of the all time greats. Pietersen on the other hand, is exceptional, this Twenty20 crap notwithstanding.

Andrew Flintoff is the only bowler in test cricket who can prise out a wicket from seemingly hopeless
situations(Remember Dravid at Mumbai).He still has the strength to bowl out teams single handedly. All the talk of him playing only ODIS is not only absurd and grave injustice to a talent dished out by the almighty to glisten the cricketing world.And for the matter of fact Freddie averaged more than Pietersen in the 2005 Ashes.So the best thing that could happen is for Freddie to discover even a pinch of that form.Flintoff is also a great
ambassdor for cricket and with shane warne retired
seems to be the only person who can take cricket to global heights.

flintoff is an exceptional player for england, but it pains to see that he is on the field fighting for the team when he should be taking proper care of his ankle ! i dont understand who is pushing him, the selectors or he himself ? he should be left alone for some months and asked to prove his match fitness once he completely recoves. if he carries on playing with this injury he will not be doing any great service to his team, country or to himself...
to say that he lacks that "fire in the belly" is absurd ! did you see him square the ODI series in india ? if it was not for him, this england team would be mere participants in a contest ! KP is a good player but not as important as freddie is... he lacks common cricket sense which freddie has got in tons. this reverse shot he played against vettori was utter nonsense shot at the given moment, when you had to win that match to book a place in the semi finals. in short, a fit flintoff is what england needs, period.
and talking about irfan pathan, agreed, he is not in the same league as flintoff. but "fire in the belly" he has got plenty of it ! once he finds his swing, both with bat & ball, india will cheer him all the way. he is a special cricketer too Mr Siddiqi...

To Deepak Naidu and Sam Korn:

Fellas, let's wake up and smell the coffee shall we? Mr. Korn, you say that comparing Flintoff and Pathan is 'misplaced'. Lets look at the numbers shall we? as of October 2007, Flintoff has played in 67 Tests with a batting average of 32 and 197 wickets, Pathan on the other hand is at 25 Tests with a batting average of 28 and 91 wickets. Do the math buddy.

As for Mr. Naidu, let me reiterate my earlier point; Yes Flintoff and Pathan are exceptional athletes, BUT THEY ARE BEING PAID TO BE! Am I a better cricketer than either? No, but I'll wager I'm a better Economist! My point is; Yes theyr good but truly greats of the game? I beg to differ! Sorry to burst your respective bubbles, but theyr not "special" theyr highly paid athletes who are OCCASIONAL matchwinners.